Pharrell Williams showcased his debut collection for Louis Vuitton Spring-Summer 2024 at Paris’s Pont Neuf bridge on Tuesday (20 June).
The star-studded show kicked off the 50-year-old record producer’s tenure as Louis Vuitton’s men’s creative director.
The show – themed “lovers” – consisted of “printed leather jerseys and rugbys, quilted denim, Mao-neck blazers and ghillie camo with LV logo cutouts.”
In an interview before the show, Williams spoke about his role, which he has held since February 2023.
“I’m the second Black man to ever experience this on the planet, the biggest fashion house in the world,” he said. “My brother Virgil [Abloh] was the first.
“He made so many strides for the house and did so many things. He brought skate culture into this world – while being an American Black man. It’s unreal the fact that I get to do this as well.”
Pharrell’s show was attended a number of celebrities, including music power couple Beyoncé and Jay-Z, rapper and actor Jaden Smith, his sister and fellow artist Willow Smith, supermodel Naomi Campbell, Spider-Man star Zendaya, rapper Megan Thee Stallion, Kim Kardashian, rappers Tyler, the Creator and A$AP Rocky, and pop star and business mogul Rihanna.
During the show, Williams also premiered new songs, including an unreleased track with longtime collaborator Clipse.
Footage of a song featuring Pusha-T and No Malice has since gone viral on social media.
To celebrate Williams’s achievement, Jay-Z also delivered a surprise performance consisting of hit tracks such as “N***as in Paris,” “Frontin’,” “Public Service Announcement (Interlude),” “Change Clothes,” “F***WithMeYouKnowIGotIt,” and so on.
Speaking to The New York Times about his post at LV, Williams said: “I am a creative designer from the perspective of the consumer.
“I didn’t go to Central Saint Martins, but I definitely went in the stores and purchased, and I know what I like.”
Williams said he wants to give the consumers “that same experience that you get when you go to Canal Street, a place that has appropriated the house for decades, right?
“Let’s reverse it. Let’s get inspired by the fact that they’ll make some colourways that the house has never made. But then let’s actually make it the finest of leather.”
Williams initially teased his menswear collection with a billboard featuring a pregnant Rihanna.
Louis Vuitton confirmed the appointment of Williams as the late Virgil Abloh’s successor in February 2023.
“Louis Vuitton is delighted to welcome Pharrell Williams as its new men’s creative director,” the fashion house said in a statement at the time.
“His first collection for Louis Vuitton will be revealed next June during Men’s Fashion Week in Paris.
The brand described Williams as a “visionary whose creative universes expand from music to art, and to fashion”.
