Pharrell Williams is a Grammy award-winning musician and producer, but now he can add menswear designer to his impressive resume. As the Wall Street Journal reports, Louis Vuitton has tapped Williams to be Creative Director for the luxury fashion house’s menswear line, effective immediately.
“Pharrell Williams is a visionary whose creative universes expand from music, to art, and to fashion — establishing himself as a cultural, global icon over the past twenty years,” the brand said, in a statement. “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.”
Although known primarily for his music and producing prowess, Williams is no stranger to the fashion world. After becoming a success in the streetwear world with his brands Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream, the mogul gradually become a larger figure in the traditional luxury fashion space, working closely with Karl Lagerfeld during his time at Chanel. According to Fashionista, Williams would go on to walk the Chanel Runway for its Collection des Metiers d’Art 2016/17, as well as launch his own collaboration collection with the brand.
Williams has also collaborated with esteemed fashion brands such as Diesel and Moncler, and has famously worked with Adidas for almost a decade on his co-branded line, helping to bring the sneaker brand into the world of fashion. He’s no stranger to Louis Vuitton, though: When Marc Jacobs was at the helm of the brand’s womenswear, he collaborated on a line of accessories.
Louis Vuitton Chairman and CEO Pietro Beccari 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.”
Since the passing of former designer Virgil Abloh in late 2021, LVMH has been quietly searching for his successor. While the brand has housed guest designers for one-off collections (i.e. Colm Dillane a.k.a. KidSuper for Fall 2023 Menswear), the hunt for the person capable of filling Abloh’s very big shoes of has been ongoing.
To replace Virgil Abloh is no small order. After the designer’s passing, LVMH’s chief executive Bernard Arnault said in a statement, “Virgil was not only a genius designer and a visionary, he was also a man with a beautiful soul and great wisdom.”
Abloh also appeared on a podcast with Williams in early 2021, where he spoke of his hopes for his legacy: “What I would be […] impressed by is the next candidate for a house that gets hired as the next head designer has this, like, multidisciplinary background and comes from, you know, not a fashion school and thinks in a different dimension and him get a shot.”
Abloh’s sentiments are certainly reflective of such a visionary multi-hyphenate as Williams. The latter’s appointment would be groundbreaking not just because of his previous achievements in the worlds of music and fashion, but because Abloh seemingly passed the torch to Williams, indirectly, himself.
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