Pharrell Williams Debuts First Louis Vuitton Collection: What to Know

This past Valentine’s Day, Louis Vuitton announced that Pharrell Williams would be their new male creative director. Pharrell takes over the vacant position once filled by Virgil Abloh, who was tapped to the role in 2018 and revolutionized the brand during his tenure, which only ended due to his death in 2021.

Abloh’s time with Louis Vuitton was one of reinvention of street style, black empowerment and multidisciplinary innovation for the French luxury fashion house. Its menswear collection takes the brand’s street style to the next level of subtle and thought-provoking, colorful and often surreal. artistic discovery. Abloh’s runway show is an immersive world full of rainbows, exploding figures, and even the use of futuristic metallic makeup on the models’ faces. Abloh also plays with dimension in his standout sculptural creations such as the dreamy ode to Parisian peaks in his fall-winter 2021-2022 collection.

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Contrary to Abloh’s often quirky approach, Pharrell say to New York Time that he didn’t want anything just for aesthetics, and that Everything had to have a real function. Pharrell is the second black man to hold the creative director title at Louis Vuitton. Abloh is the first. It is the crown jewel of the LVMH portfolio. That’s everything, and I was appointed to govern in this position, said Pharrell. So number 1, the ruler of a position is usually like a king. But the master of this position is for me an eternal student. That is what I want.

Pharrell’s debut Louis Vuitton collection on Tuesday, June 20 in Paris has been highly anticipated by the fashion industry, and is one of the most highly anticipated shows of the Spring/Summer 2024 menswear season. A teaser campaign with Rihanna shows the pregnant singer posing gracefully amidst a row of the iconic LV monogram Speedy bags, in a variety of new colors.

Pharrell’s first runway show in Paris, which took place on the Pont Neuf (the French capital’s oldest standing bridge!), continued to showcase these bags, along with the glitch camo print. A variety of colors and styles debuted with the brand’s signature plaid redesign, Damier. Standouts include long coats and full suits, as well as a smattering of camo rain boots, sunglasses, and berets. Pharrell stuck to deep maroon, army green, and mustard yellow often alongside a more flashy jewel-encrusted bomber jacket and the opening look featured a heavy camouflage jacket with silver paillettes.

While the brand’s staple suits are present and perfect (and in a collection of gorgeous denim and Earth colors), Pharrell is also keeping it casual when it comes to ready-to-wear, with glitch camo sweatshirts and a full pajama set.

On the Pont Neuf bridge, models walked across the pale yellow runway to the sound of an orchestra and a full choir. Music by Pusha T serenades a line-up of mostly camouflage-clad models, and to no one’s surprise, it’s a truly star-studded presentation. Celebrities in attendance included Beyoncé and Jay-Z, Rihanna and A$AP Rocky, Kim Kardashian, Zendaya, Lewis Hamilton and Jaden and Willow Smith.

With the theme of “lovers”, Pharrell’s first Louis Vuitton show successfully launched the brand into a new era, one full of risk-taking and experimentation with color and pattern. The emphasis on coats and accessories left many of the brand’s staples untouched, while glitch camo-supporting LV’s Damier thrashing pushed the brand’s street style into the woods.

A look back at Pharrell’s history with the brand, however, reveals why we probably should have seen this debut collection coming, and why we have more to look forward to in Pharrell’s Louis Vuitton menswear future.

Pharrell’s relationship with Louis Vuitton began in 2004, with the release of Millionaire sunglasses in partnership with Marc Jacobs and Nigo. The bold red aviator, with monogrammed gold trim, quickly became iconic, so much so that Abloh updated his glasses in 2018 as part of his first LV show.

These sunglasses epitomized Pharrell’s style at the time. In 2004, her style was eclectic and youthful. He wore oversized chains, baseball caps, bright colors, and funky graphic prints. Deeply a part of skate culture, Pharrell is not afraid to innovate skater style, infusing classic shapes with bright colors and patterns. Graphics in the Pharrells brand Billionaire Boys Club (which he founded in 2003) and its Icecream offshoot are both eye-catching and simple, yet effective.

In 2008, Pharrell worked with Louis Vuitton once again, collaborating on a jewelery line with Camille Miceli. The pieces are inventive and fantastical, with Pharrell’s bold use of color and striking love of sparkle truly making the collection a work of art.

Pharrell has a certain confidence when it comes to fashion which will help him immensely in his future LV endeavors. Whether it’s denim on denim, an oversized fedora hat, or gender-bending, Pharrell has his looks with grace and swag coming together to create a special kind of fashion icon.