Pharrell Williams takes over men’s fashion at Louis Vuitton

The producer and performer is the new creative director of the brand’s men’s collections.

For a year and two months, the men’s division of the French brand Louis Vuitton wandered in search of inspiration for its collections without a permanent creative director. Following the death of industry iconic designer Virgil Abloh, who in 2018 headed the creative processes at the brand, part of the LVMH empire that also includes Moet Hennessy, Dior, Tiffany&Co, Kenzo, Dom Perignon and others, the industry has been holding its breath in what direction will take over Louis Vuitton. Abloh managed to change the image of the brand from a traditional haute couture design to a broken, colorful and rather youthful style, which increased sales many times over.

Now the company was put through the challenge of not just maintaining but also upgrading its image in the fashion industry. It was with such a request that Louis Vuitton surprisingly announced their choice of new creative director – performer and producer Pharrell Williams. This is not the first time he has worked in the fashion industry. Williams co-owns the brand Human Made, co-founded the Billionaire Boys Club and skate brand Ice Cream with Japanese designer Nigo, co-owns G-Star Raw Denim and often partners with jewelry leader Tiffany. This time, however, his responsibility is much greater. It goes against Abloh’s will and the promise that he will “open a new chapter in the history of Louis Vuitton”. We’ll find out if that happens at his first fashion show at Men’s Fashion Week in June in Paris.

Virgil’s Testament

In the last years of his career, Virgil Abloh was a key figure not only for the Louis Vuitton brand, but also for the entire fashion empire. At the same time, betting on the popular concept that a different model can be made by changing only 3% of its design. So he often simply added a colorful handle to otherwise traditional Louis Vuitton bags.

In late July 2019, LVMH announced that they were expanding their relationship with new projects and acquired 60% of Abloh’s Off-White brand, with which he represents art through the lens of fashion, music and travel. Therefore, his unexpected death raised many questions about the future of the company. The fashion house lost not only its creative director, but also the engine of the modernization of the classic and to some extent conserved over time brands. For the continuation of the creative wave in the last year, various names were mentioned. Among them were Martin Rose, creator of the eponymous menswear brand, Grace Wales Bonner also with her own brand, and A-COLD-WALL* brand creator Samuel Ross, who also worked for Off-White.

The latest name in speculation for creative director of Louis Vuitton was Colm Delaney, also known by his nickname and brand KidSuper. His extravagant and colorful collections earned him a partnership with the brand in early 2023. During fashion week, he presented several of his models as a guest designer, and expectations were that this was a test for taking on a higher position.

Long live fashion

Ultimately, however, Louis Vuitton took a different direction. The brand bet on a completely new face, beyond speculation. The choice of Pharrell Williams seems rather logical, and to some extent it can be perceived as a safe bet. He is a recognizable face not only in fashion, but also in the music industry as a producer and performer. Thus, he will combine the role of creative director of Louis Vuitton with that of a popular personality who represents and advertises the brand. Benjamin Simenauer, a professor at the Institut Français de la Mode in Paris, told Vogue that his choice broadens the familiar profile of a creative director even further. “Pharrell Williams knows how to keep the brand modern,” he added.

Williams has proven over time his affinity for fashion through his numerous successful collaborations with various brands. In 2008, one of the first was precisely with Louis Vuitton, when he partnered with then-creative director Marc Jacobs to create jewelry and eyewear. Then Williams himself, in an interview with The Associated Press, defined his work on the collection as “a school from which he learned a lot.”

Photo: Musician and music producer Pharrell Williams, photographed in Berlin, March 2005, by foto di matti, www.foto-di-matti.com (Matti Hillig – Own work).