Pharrell’s Louis Vuitton SS24 menswear show echoes his unrivalled status in pop culture, authority in fashion, and obsessive love for love.
True creatives surrender to their art. They can’t help it. Love of making can drive them to tethering extremes, and if they go at it long enough, they become saints. Pharrell is one of them; his devotion to his craft, whether in music or fashion, has always been revered from up close and afar. So despite all the doubts and sky-high expectations industry fiends had for his debut as creative director of Louis Vuitton’s menswear arm, his SS24 show delivered a joyous display of love and power that was equally ground-breaking in both spectacle and significance.
He once said in interview that he produces the best music when channelling and creating for other people; to do what the music needs, and not what his ego tells him to do. It is no wonder why there always seems to be this aura around the man, and being able to detach his biases from the soul-giving and self-serving process of creating art has rubbed off in his first creations for the Maison.
Just like the far-reaching rays of the sun, Pharrell’s glow was omnipresent. Yellow and warmth coincidentally also informs the warm palette and gilded surfaces seen in the 75-look strong collection, as well as the golden Damier runway on Pont Neuf. The silhouettes were familiar in its autobiographical referencing to Pharrell’s own wardrobe: teardrop-shaped glasses a la Tiffany&Co; pearl, crystal and flower pendent embellishments; street-and-dandy ensembles with Mary-Janes; bright, primary colours highlighting the new Speedy array en masse; sprinklings of Americana in varsity jackets; the launch of the new LVERS emblem that nods at the slogan of Pharrell Williams’ home state: “Virginia is for lovers.” Self-referencing to this extent would have been preposterously pretentious if it were not for Pharrell being Pharrell.
In other words, not just anyone who has made it big in the global music industry or streetwear scene can do this. As much as invigorating and reinforcing the pop culture tenets that hold fashion’s contemporary relevance in place are crucial, it needs to be done by someone who can wield his Midas touch in a non-discriminatory fashion. And a wholesome celebration this SS24 show was — you need only look at its stellar diverse human casting (in Pharrell’s own words), multi-faceted embrace of music (cue pianist Lang Lang, Clipse, gospel choir Voices of Fire, and Jay-Z, who gave a surprise performance with Pharrell after the show) and the numerous colourful and graphic representations of love.
To be more specific, it lived up to the hype because of the tasteful way the codes of the Maison were treated under Pharrell’s care. Apart from the stage of the presentation, the Damier was also presented as the Damoflage, which combines the chessboard motif with the hiphop-staple camouflage print, and was found across accessories, workwear, indigo denim, pyjama silhouettes, in the intarsia of knitwear and furs, and in the jacquard of tailoring. Later, an 8-bit Atari (or Minecraft) Damier motif created by the American pixel artist ET Artist was seen on multiple tailoring and outerwear moments. As much as this was a celebration of Pharrell’s love for love, it was also a study in Black style’s strength in re-appropriation — no better way to continue Virgil’s legacy than to have the designer’s own source of inspiration follow in his footsteps, changing century-long Eurocentric conventions one design at a time.
Pharrell also pretty much nailed it with the bags — arguably one of the most telling ways to differentiate a good Louis Vuitton collection apart from a mediocre one. Leathers were softened on the Speedys and new tote bags that imitate the paper grain of carrier bags were almost cuddled in the arms to a tongue-in-cheek effect. Heritage trunks, which came in as precious cargo in a cart, were embellished with the new Monogram Copper, a healing element essential to all living organisms and a material also known to transform in the light of the sun. Each bag was desirable not just as a means of luxury, but as a badge that proves membership of the crowd that declares what is in and what is out.
Most of these modern tastemakers were in attendance to witness the extravaganza, and that includes both Beyonce and Rihanna (also the face of Pharrell’s first campaign for the Maison), the latter’s beau ASAP Rocky, Kim Kardashian, Zendaya, as well as creatives like Tyler The Creator, Jonathan Anderson, KAWS, Nigo, Yoon and Ambush and Takashi Murakami. Surely, this star power is enough to trump any other presentation this season. But this is Pharrell, and it’s not just about clout even if we can acknowledge that his hire definitely taps onto the existing influence he already has on a whole generation.
A Louis Vuitton menswear show of this scale reads most accurately as a display of visionary prowess. How a melting pot of global cultures gives rise to unbridled access and opportunity is proof of why working with those who have flourished outside of the prestigious and pristine high towers of fashion is key to obtaining the “sauce” that makes fashion sell, provoke thought, and encourage wonder, all at once. The Maison is right on the ball with that. If Pharrell did not have so much love for “love”, we would not have seen such a generous showering of the things that inspire him to love. If anything, the unspeakable joy that shook the entire bridge overlooking Paris and the Seine foretells an era of brightness and vibrant old-new remixes that will once again reinforce Louis Vuitton’s position as the leader of today’s fashion frontier.
Once you’re done with this story on the Louis Vuitton Spring Summer 2024 menswear show, click here to catch up with our June/July 2023 issue.
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