It started with a nondescript bateau mouche ride along the Seine at early sunset; the powers that be at Louis Vuitton had called for an 8:40 PM arrival, sharp, for Pharrell Williams’s debut show as the label’s menswear creative director. Unlike the house’s Miami show in 2021, which featured hyper-branded VanDutch cruisers shuttling guests to an abandoned marine stadium, this ferry was faceless, cruising right down the middle of one of the most photographed waterways on earth.
As we approached Pont Neuf, the bridge in front of Louis Vuitton’s world headquarters and the oldest span in Paris, it became clear why we needed to arrive by water and why we needed to be discreet: Williams had shut down the entire thing, paving it in Damier-checked gold. Just foil, running the length of the bridge, with glowing-orange spotlights on one end and a swelling crowd that would end up having the highest concentration of celebrities this writer has ever seen at a fashion show: Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Kim Kardashian, Zendaya, Rihanna (Louis Vuitton’s current campaign star), Anitta, Offset, Maluma, Jaden and Willow Smith, and many, many more were there. Designers turned out, too: Nicolas Ghesquière, who runs Louis Vuitton womenswear, was in attendance. So was Matthew Williams of Givenchy. Former Yves Saint Lauren head Stefano Pilati even walked the golden runway. And while it was clear there was some sort of major spectacle going down, it wasn’t exactly obvious that it was for Louis Vuitton and that there were this many luminaries mingling in the half-light. It made for a feeling of unlikely subtlety and intimacy for the watershed moment between Williams and Europe’s most valuable company.
Williams’ debut arrived after much guesswork and speculation following the death of his predecessor, Virgil Abloh, in late 2021. Abloh’s passing sent shockwaves through the business and pop culture alike. His loss was gravitationally enormous, and the path he paved wide, as he was among the first Black creative directors at a major global fashion brand.
When Williams was announced as Abloh’s successor on Valentine’s Day of this year, the news was met with a bit of confusion by some. He was not a quote-unquote designer, despite, some might have forgotten, having achieved success for his streetwear label Billionaire Boys Club. Some felt the role should go to someone more classically trained in the profession, or at least someone in their ascent; Williams has been very, very famous, in multiple fields, for decades. But one cannot ignore the fact that a Black creative remaining at the helm of half of Louis Vuitton is enormously significant, and Williams has expressed both his awareness of that weight and his gratitude to Abloh for the barriers helped break. “This moment is dedicated to the giant before me. To our brother in spirit,” read the show notes.
In a statement, Williams added: “When you come from a culture that has been purposefully blocked and set in disadvantaged situations, you can’t imagine what’s even possible. But there’s this narrative that’s changing. So many of us are being swept up from one place and landing in fertile soil in other places, and being treated and watered and sunned like all souls should be. I can say there is an impact in that way, which is changing. It’s not enough but it’s happening. I’m very honoured to be a part of that…this is a French house but they went right back to America and found another Black man, and gave me the keys.”
The collection itself reads like a hybrid of Abloh-isms and Williams-esques, with plenty of range. There were new and hyper-graphic takes on varsity jackets, which harkened back to Williams’s teenage days at Princess Anne High School in his hometown of Virginia Beach (Abloh, too, loved a varsity jacket). There was a glitchy pixel-camo motif, well realised on calf-high boots in particular. There was Damier-check flared denim, its squares alternating between mid and light blue. And there were brightly hued Keepall duffels and Speedy crossbodies, which, Williams noted, were part of an “expression of synaesthesia” that “[started] with the colour yellow.” (As it happened, Beyoncé wore a Williams LV fit, in that same primary canary.)
Novelty is also never far from a Louis Vuitton menswear runway, and perhaps the most fitting piece of all was a monogram-canvas bag in the shape of the exact bateau mouche that brought guests in: Indicative of the moment, and symbolic in that Williams was charting familiar waters albeit with a fresh, distinctive, and unmistakable approach.
