Image courtesy of Louis Vuitton
Congratulations to the man who makes everyone happy! Pharrell Williams, the legendary singer, producer, and all around visionary, has just been appointed the new Men’s Creative Director at Louis Vuitton. Williams’ new role is effective immediately and his first collection for Louis Vuitton will debut this June during the Men’s Fashion Week in Paris.
Louis Vuitton’s instagram officially announced the appointment via instagram, describing Williams as a creative visionary, noting his creative universe expands from music, to art, and to fashion, well-known as a cultural icon breaking boundaries across the various art worlds. Williams reinforces the values of the esteemed fashion house, including “innovation, pioneer spirit, and entrepreneurship”. Peter Beccari, the Chairman and CEO of Louis Vuitton, specifically and enthusiastically welcomed Pharrell back “home”, noting their previous 2004 and 2008 collaborations. (Louis Vuitton is a subsidiary of LVMH– Louis Vuitton Moet Hennesey. It is LVMH’s biggest brand, crossing $20 billion dollars in sales. Just last month Bernard Arnault, Chairman of LVMH, was named the world’s richest man and celebrated by buying a villa in Milan which was once the home of Leonardo DaVinci.)
Notably, Williams previously collaborated with LVMH on sunglasses and jewelry. The sunglasses collection, aptly named “Millionaire”, remains so popular that the glasses can be found at resale for more than double their original price. So many people were clamoring for the sunglasses that the line was reissued in 2018.
Image courtesy of Louis Vuitton
Here at Pursebop ,we find this announcement to be particularly interesting and exciting, especially in light of Pharrell’s historic involvement with Chanel. Long time readers of our site will remember the excitement of the Chanel x Pharrell Williams collection from 2019. It was the first capsule collection in the venerated brand’s history. Who could ever forget the Green Fuzzy Tote that was featured not only on Pursebop, but also on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar! Furthermore, in 2017 not only did he design a shoe with Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel, that same year he was even the first man to appear in a Chanel handbag campaign.
Harper’s Bazaar Korea, April 2019 Issue. Photo courtesy: Harper’s Bazaar
Apart from partnering with some of the most venerated fashion brands in the world, Pharrell has also launched multiple streetwear labels of his own as well– most notably Billionaire Boys Club in 2003.
Image courtesy Complex Magazine
Fans of Louis Vuitton, including us here at Pursebop, must take a moment to reflect on Pharrell’s predecessor, the beloved designer Virgil Abloh. Abloh, who broke boundaries as the first Black artistic director at Louis Vuitton, died of cancer in 2021 at the young age of 41. Abloh rose through fashion’s ranks as the creative director for Kanye West (Ye) and as a founder of the popular streetwear label Off-White.
We applaud Pharrell Williams’ self-empowering philosophy as he steps into this highly influential role. As he himself said in an interview with GQ in 2019, “When you listen to yourself and you’re comfortable in who you are, you wear what you feel like fits and looks right on you. And that’s it.”
What do you think? Are you excited to see the direction taken by Williams? Or expect more of the same? Let us know.
- Maura Carlin posted 2 years ago
- last edited 2 years ago
