After months of speculation, fashion fanatics (and simple luxury connoisseurs) at long last rejoiced when on June 20th, Pharrell Williams at long last unveiled his inaugural collection for Louis Vuitton.
To the sounds of The Virginia choir Voice of Fire’s gospel, “If you want it, you can have it; if you need it, you can have it,” an army of LoVe (which was the theme of the collection) sauntered down the Damier-checks-covered Pont Neuf bridge in their Damien getups holding Damien bags. The location choice embodied “A metaphorical connection between Paris and Virginia, the home state of Pharrell Williams,” the show notes say.
And under the Damien sea, one could easily spot a dizzying plethora of homages – to the late Virgil Abloh, of course, whom Pharrell Williams considers a brother in spirit, Marc Jacobs (and his checks-ridden spring 2013 collection for the maison) and even Kim Jones.
Louis Vuitton’s spring/summer 2024 menswear collection was a masterful blend of past and present, with a unique eye for current trends in pop culture. His ability to bring the two together was unparalleled; what more effective way could there be to captivate the young and old alike than to start with a dazzling display of “Damouflaged” pieces that both Minecraft enthusiasts and camo-prints devotees would eagerly embrace?
Present in a vibrant trio of shades across accessories, workwear, denim, nightwear, knitwear, furs and tailoring, the pattern fuses Louis Vuitton’s iconographies with Williams’s sui-generis stylistic attributes. The subtle hint of outdoor camouflage is reflected in graphic landscape prints housing blanket coats, blousons, pyjamas and shirting, finished off with laser-cut floral patterns amongst coats and bags. Said collection of printed garments is also destined to win the hearts (and the wallets) of the fans who miss Louis Vuitton’s signature Virgil-isms, along with the scarlet bags that paid a not-so-subtle homage to the brand’s collaboration with Supreme.
And the show itself felt like a celebration – one of those cheerful family affairs, where distant relatives from all around the world come together for some joyous occasion. But it also felt like a phantasmagorical parade of memories, with faces often associated with Louis Vuitton’s rich past swooning at and laughing with the icons of the brand’s present day. There was Nicolas Ghesquière (naturally), Zendaya donning a look straight off the runway, Takashi Murakami, the Smiths and Kim Kardashian.
The new era has begun, and we are yearning to see what it brings.
