On a particular empty street in Sydney's east, on a particularly nothing day last week, hundreds of teenagers, some still in their Cranbrook and other elite school uniforms, lined up for hours to meet their idol, Virgil Abloh, the introverted Chicago native who is, according to supermodel Naomi Campbell, "the future".

The hype was for 10 types of sneakers he has re-imagined for Nike, including words in quotations (such as "Swoosh" on Chuck Taylor-style sneakers; "shoe laces" printed on...shoe laces; and "air" on the air-filled sole). The hype for his limited edition range was so enormous Nike had to stagger sales by digital raffles throughout November. The latest release then had to be cancelled after "technical issues caused overwhelming demand". Some of the buyers who lined up in Sydney had spent about $1000 per pair for Abloh's take on Air Jordans and and Air Max 90 styles.

In between collaborating with Nike, he also heads up the Milan-based fashion brand, Off-White, where his collections since 2013 have combined casual wear with a luxury price tag (think $700 silk organza hoodie jumpers). Abloh is also known as DJ Flat White where he uses his sets to mix tracks by some of his celebrity comrades including Drake, A$AP Rocky, Travis Scott and Rihanna. Something he did after being honoured at this year's GQ Australia Men of the Year Awards before quietly slipping out of the formal dinner to man the decks with a Sydney creative group at an underground nightclub.

Abloh is a new breed of celebrity; a quiet over-achiever who shuns the spotlight. He created Off-White so "I could hide and let the ideas speak for themselves," he told Fairfax Media. He also isn't a fan of interviews, instead preferring to address eager students at Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation and Harvard's Graduate School of Design. Both conversations he headlined recently have since clocked up more than 100,000 views on YouTube.

He has a resume longer than the queues of people who wait to see him, his new collections in Paris and his plethora of collaborations. After graduating university with a degree in civil engineering and a masters in architecture, he began working with Kanye West in the early 2000s as the rapper's creative consultant where he continues to oversee merchandise design, album covers and tour sets; he then accompanied West to Fendi in 2009 where they both undertook a internship.

While he considers his work, whether it be his clothing line, his upcoming IKEA furniture or these Nike sneakers, to be created in a similar method to that of Marcel Duchamp, Abloh is more of a modern day Andy Warhol. Except this artist carries his version of The Factory on his iPhone in his new season Prada bumbag (which he wears over one shoulder and across his body), instead of sketching he does most of his work in WhatsApp and in his rare downtime seeks out potential creative colleagues on Instagram.

He's a regular visitor to Australia and enjoys catching up with mates like PE Nation co-founder Pip Edwards and former Brioni creative director Justin O'Shea. He also heads down under to seek out "authenticity".

"[By] meeting these kids who come out to see me and come to my sets. It's the essence, that's why I was at Settings the Underground last night until, like, shit, two in the morning, which was the best party I've ever been too. That's the raw energy. Those are the kids who make shoes iconic, they are the next generation. To me, it's easy, if you stay inspired, you never run out of ideas and I get inspired by conversation and meeting new people," he said.

The shy American also doesn't speak about his famous friends like West, the Kardashian/Jenners and Hadids, instead politely laughing off any mention of them.

Unlike most Millennials who pepper their speech with "like", Abloh speaks with absolute conviction during conversations about art, creativity and the future of fashion. Most sentences are punctuated with "you know"; these act as circuit breakers for his enraptured audiences, allowing them time to get up to speed with his fast moving mind, unique perspective and passion for design.

"I didn't fly here just to talk about my shoes, I want a new generation of sneaker designers, a new generation of people to do what I did."