Pharrell Williams appointed Louis Vuitton’s menswear creative director
Pharrell Williams has been named as Louis Vuitton’s menswear creative director
Pharrell Williams has been appointed the creative director of Louis Vuitton’s menswear.
The ‘Happy’ hitmaker is taking the reins at the French fashion house after the death of its former designer Virgil Abloh died aged 41 in November 2021 following his cancer diagnosis.
Louis Vuitton labelled the 49-year-old music producer - who has worked with many other high-end fashion brands like Chanel, Tiffany + Co and Kenzo - a “visionary whose creative universes expand from music to art, and to fashion. The way in which he breaks boundaries across the various worlds he explores aligns with Louis Vuitton’s status as a cultural maison, reinforcing its values of innovation, pioneer spirit and entrepreneurship”.
Pharrell’s first collection for LVMH-owned label is tipped to debut in June 2024 at Paris Fashion Week and his appointment quells months of questions about who would replace Virgil - who was a good friend of the ex N.E.R.D star and sometime fashion collaborator- with floated names including Martine Rose and Grace Wales Bonner, making the job going to the Grammy winner an unexpected move.
Pietro Beccari, Louis Vuitton’s boss said: “I am glad to welcome Pharrell back home, after our collaborations in 2004 and 2008 for Louis Vuitton, as our new men’s creative director. His creative vision beyond fashion will undoubtedly lead Louis Vuitton towards a new and very exciting chapter.”
Virgil - who is survived by his wife Shannon, who has taken over at his offshoot line Off White, and their two kids, Gray and Lowe - was considered a visionary and responsible for shaking up the direction both creatively and financially of Louis Vuitton and his death sent shockwaves through the industry.
