In star-studded debut, pop star Pharrell Williams showcased his debut collection for Louis Vuitton Spring-Summer 2024 at Paris’s Pont Neuf bridge. From Jay Z -Beyonce to Rihanna and A$AP Rocky, Kim Kardashian and many more, the top celebrities came to congratulate the 50-year-old record producer’s tenure as Louis Vuitton’s men’s creative director. Louis Vuitton confirmed the appointment of Williams as the late Virgil Abloh’s successor in February 2023.
Here are top takeaways from Pharrell William’s first Men’s Spring Summer 2024 collection in Paris for French luxury house Louis Vuitton.
- Solar power: The Louis Vuitton Spring-Summer 2024 Men’s Collection orbits the sun as a focal point for opportunity, responsibility and enhancement, In his first proposal for the Maison, Men’s Creative Director Pharrell Williams looks to the sun as a universal source of life: a radiance that energizes, heals and unifies humans across cultures and creeds.
2. Paris meets Virginia: The show was presented on Pont Neuf, the oldest bridge in the French capital, in ever-present view of the adjacent Louis Vuitton studios. It embodies a metaphorical connection between Paris and Virginia, the home state of Pharrell Williams. The evolution it represents inspires memories of Princess Anne High School in Virginia Beach, a seminal institution in the early education of the Men’s Creative Director, as well as recollections of the road that led him to today: the generosity of Marc Jacobs at Louis Vuitton, who ignited a foray into fashion that would only grow through Pharrell Williams’ relationship with Pietro Beccari. The formative premise is epitomised in styling elements and in American varsity jackets amplified through the Parisian confection of the Maison’s ateliers. The premise encourages a study of the sporty wardrobe in tracksuits and knitwear re-contextualised with pearl embroideries or Monogram.
3. Ode to yellow: An expression of synaesthesia, primary colours invigorate Louis Vuitton’s classic Damier chessboard graphic. A foundational element in Pharrell Williams’ early familiarisation with the Maison, the Damier is reimagined in a series of new adaptations. An 8-bit Atari Damier motif created by the American pixel
artist ET Artist digitalises the pattern. Coloured Damier expressions appear in tailoring, pyjamas and denim. The grain of the Damier leather is interpreted in stitch-like 3-D pigment print in outerwear and tailoring. A pied de poule take on the graphic nods at the heritage men’s wardrobe, while a hand-embroidered Damier pearl decoration adorns tailoring, sportswear and workwear.
4. Bag it: A new adaptation of the Louis Vuitton Speedy bag conjures the attitude and hustle mentality of Canal Street on Lower Manhattan, New York City in an everyday icon conceived for every walk of life. Imbued with real-life sensibilities, the new Speedy honours the trapezoid lines of the classic Speedy but appears in supple grained calf leather lined in the finest lambskin. The softened construction enables the bottom of the bag to collapse and drape the way it would through everyday wear and gestures. The silkscreen-printed Monogram induces a blurry, artisanal and almost hand-painted effect, rendered in several colours across nine dimensions. The prized Louis Vuitton trunk materialises in Monogram Copper, a healing element essential to all living organisms, known to transform in the light of the sun. The Damoflage pattern features in canvas bags and a leather backpack, as well as in trainer trunks. An oversized multicolour Damier motif appears across the icons and twisted icons of the Maison. LV Allover calfskin bags are embossed with gold or silver LVs.
5. Footprints: A desire for comfort is captured in magnified shearling slippers in Monogram intarsia, their outsole embossed with a bear’s footprint, created to leave an impression. The collection debuts a nubuck bowling shoe,
a magnified calfskin Mary-Jane, and an LV-crested leather hotel slipper in Damier pop colours. The new LV Sport sneaker emerges in embossed Damier leather or nubuck with a Damier footprint sole, next to an evening football boot with Damier-style upper-stitching. Glazed leather penny loafers and expanded leather
loafers appear in crystal-encrusted variations, while the LV Snowboard boot is rendered in Damoflage-printed crocodile. Several designs are also interpreted with the waffle-relief LV Chunky sole.