Hard Rock’s memorabilia in Rockford includes a connection to late fashion icon Virgil Abloh

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — At the gateway to the high limit room at the new Hard Rock Casino Rockford is a piece of music memorabilia connected to a Rockford native who reached the highest levels of the fashion industry.

An outfit designed by late fashion icon Virgil Abloh, who died at age 41 from a rare form of cancer in November 2021, is on display as part of Hard Rock’s celebrated collection of music memorabilia.

Abloh designed the custom suit under his Off-White label, according to Hard Rock. Rapper Ja Rule later wore it during his performance at the 2023 BET Awards honoring the 50th anniversary of hip hop music.

Ja Rule, a New York City native who became one of the most successful rap artists of the early 2000s, donated the suit to Hard Rock in September 2023 after an event at Hard Rock Hotel New York.

Giovanni Taliaferro, vice president of memorabilia and design for Hard Rock International, said the entertainment and hospitality company has been holding it to put it on display in Rockford.

“It had to be here in Rockford,” Taliaferro said. “Virgil, the mark that he left on the fashion industry and streetwear is unmistakable. Being able to obtain a piece worn by a celebrated and iconic musical figure such as Ja Rule — it had to be here.”

The black suit has colorful orange accents that say Off-White, and it’s displayed in a glass enclosure with an orange dress worn by Ashanti, a singer who collaborated with Ja Rule on four Top 10 Billboard hits.

Taliaferro said he studies the communities where Hard Rock is establishing a new venue to make sure the memorabilia includes locally relevant stories. A connection to Abloh was a must.

“It just reinforces us celebrating local stories and local legacies,” Taliaferro said.

Abloh was born in Rockford to Ghanaian immigrants and graduated from Boylan Catholic High School in 1998 before earning a civil engineering degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He was rapper Kanye West’s creative director before founding his high-end streetwear brand Off-White. He also collaborated with Nike on highly coveted designs and became the first Black creative director of Louis Vuitton menswear.

His design for Ja Rule flanks one entrance to the high limit room with dresses worn by Mariah Carey and Jennifer Hudson on the other side.

Those are just a few of the roughly 150 pieces of memorabilia on display, including a vast collection from Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Nielsen.

The casino opens roughly around 3 p.m. Thursday after Hard Rock’s traditional guitar smashing ceremony, which is its form of a ribbon-cutting.

The slots, card tables, restaurants and live music venue draw much of the attention at Hard Rock venues, but the company also owns the world’s largest collection of authentic music memorabilia with nearly 90,000 pieces.

Some of the other memorabilia on display in Rockford comes from celebrated artists such as Miles Davis, Ariana Grande, Albert Collins, the Blues Brothers and Taylor Swift, to name a few. Every genre of music is depicted, but it all ties back to Cheap Trick or Rockford, Taliaferro said.

“It’s such an incredible and diverse connection here in Rockford,” he said. “You can trace every artifact on display in here to Chicagoland as well as Cheap Trick. … There’s so many unique ways that connect every artist that’s on display to Cheap Trick.”

This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas