2023-06-24 03:49:49
– Fine yarn for Generation Z
Music star Pharrell Williams presented his debut collection for Louis Vuitton in Paris. The debut was a big party on the Pont Neuf, with Rihanna, Beyoncé, Jay Z concert. And yet, it was also about fashion.
Anne Goebel
Published today at 5:49 am
Celebrity crowd: Jared Leto and Kim Kardashian sat in the front row.
Foto: Getty Images
A little bigger, that’s always in fashion. Every fashion week works anew according to the principle of overpowering, with the exception of the barren Corona seasons, of course, the memory of which is as pale as a piece of faded summer fabric. People shine, celebrate, outdo each other like in the past at the stations in New York, Paris and Milan, and more and more often with guest performances in Seoul or Mumbai.
And then, every happy year, there are events that flout every norm in completely different dimensions. A little more, un petit peu? Not for the most powerful luxury brand in the world, not on a rainless June evening in Paris, as requested, not at the eagerly awaited debut of the year: Pharrell Williams presented his first collection for Louis Vuitton this week as part of men’s fashion week.
The excitement was also fueled by the fact that Williams is actually not a designer but a musician, which on the other hand also applied to his predecessor Virgil Abloh, who led the brand to new heights until his death in 2021, which it is now time to surpass – in short said: Big flutter in the fashion world. And even in the magical city of Paris, a particularly magical place is needed for such a performance, ideally between the river, heaven and earth.
Now also celebrated as a fashion designer: music star Pharrell Williams (middle).
Photo: AFP
You can have it, the LVMH group kept an eye on the Pont Neuf. And had the proud old bridge closed, the parade floating over the water of the Seine, so to speak. Anyone who had decided that it would have to be enough to watch the event live on the screen from afar (which was of course the wrong decision) stared for three quarters of an hour at a weakly flickering square pattern with the lettering “The show will begin shortly” familiar from Covid times. . Meanwhile, the guests of honor were seated in the front row, Kim Kardashian, Jared Leto, Zendaya in a glittery two-piece suit, Mayor Anne Hidalgo as the lady of the hijacked, gold-carpeted bridge. Beyoncé in golden yellow with Jay-Z, Rihanna with a baby bump and Asap Rocky.
Then the first look, jacket, shirt, tie. So it was clear: the Maison Louis Vuitton under the rapper and producer Pharrell Williams, formerly known as Skateboard P, will not become a pure streetwear label. Even if there were doubts about his vocation: the 50-year-old from Virginia Beach, who has been one of the big names in the music business since his hypnotic song “Happy” from 2014 at the latest, is not a complete newbie to fashion. He launched a successful line of sunglasses with Marc Jacobs, designed for Moncler and presented a capsule collection for Chanel with Karl Lagerfeld in 2019.
Paris stands still: Louis Vuitton suitcases are driven onto the catwalk at the Pont Neuf for Paris Fashion Week.
Foto: Getty Images
What Williams showed in Paris was a clever combination of eclecticism from hip-hop elements and finer tailoring, without stopping too much for sophisticated silhouettes. Fluttering coats and baggy pants alternated with suit trousers, leg or knee length, with boxy short or bomber jackets.
This isn’t really anything new in menswear, which ranges in the area of street-ready, cushioned elegance, somewhere between sneakers and jackets, recently with an increasing tilt in the more formal direction. But Williams, who was a career changer who was well aware of his limitations, did not even try his hand at high tailoring perspective of the consumer.»
It is clear that this has little to do with democratic fashion, after all he took a job at a luxury company. But even if he didn’t study at Central Saint Martins, the famous university in London: “I definitely went to the shops and purchased”, he went shopping and knows what’s popular. So this evening it’s about designs that as many customers as possible should like as much as possible, which is a legitimate goal in fashion, but one that is rarely honestly stated.
What Williams showed in Paris was a clever combination of eclecticism from hip-hop elements and finer tailoring, without stopping too much for sophisticated silhouettes.
Photo: AFP
In concrete terms, this means for a 20-minute catwalk show: What counts are memorable looks. Omnipresent is the LV monogram, which Williams transformed with the word “lovers” into the global LVers logo, emblazoned on snakeskin jackets or a mink-colored Rich Kids fur coat. His twist for the venerable Damier print is also guaranteed to be suitable for the masses, Louis Vuitton’s version of the checkerboard pattern comes deep from the house archive.
In the Pharrell version, the plaid looks very cool and very Gen Z on faded denim, as a flashy checked speedy bag or long robe with an embroidered pearl finish. This is what the modern dandy looks like: No snobbish petty kid, but rather one wears it thick as a matter of principle. Then there was the pixelated variant of camouflage: in cool shades of green and brown on coats or heavy boots, the graphic print ran through the entire collection (further color combinations have been announced).
Williams calls it “Damoflage” and has already, very cleverly, targeted the young customers of tomorrow who have grown up with “Minecraft”. Finally, routinely interspersed accessories – cargo bags, suitcases, mother-of-pearl sunglasses – are a must for every creative director here anyway. In this case, it almost seemed like an ironic comment on his clientele’s obsession with bags when Williams sent a stoic trolley driver down the runway, who drove the latest models in the little cart with rubber tires over the bridge-length carpet.
Williams calls it “Damoflage” and has already, very cleverly, targeted the young customers of tomorrow who have grown up with “Minecraft”.
Foto: Getty Images
The question remains: What should still go wrong at the Louis Vuitton tills? Pietro Beccari, the newly installed CEO at the beginning of the year, should be satisfied with the result of his novice. “We started small”, the Italians liked to joke after the Pont Neuf show, which was a demonstration of power not just for a brand but for black culture – right in the heart of old, white, elitist Europe, as the music critic Jon Caramanica wrote . Without detracting from this assessment: the pregnant Rihanna as the star of the current LV campaign, the performance of the gospel formation Voices of Fire, known worldwide through a successful Netflix documentary – it was also a very precisely orchestrated performance. In any case, Beccari is considered a tough profit maximizer and once described himself as a “calvinista”: no half measures. Pharrell Williams agrees.
Finally, when he appeared on the bridge, there was a standing ovation, Rihanna frantically, the chorus exulting “Joy!”, bodyguards escorted the designer in the midst of his team. Oh yes, a little Jay-Z concert followed. And, it should be noted, the day after, Paris Fashion Week Menswear really got going. Even if she had actually walked.
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