When vogue insiders acquired discover on Tuesday afternoon that Pharrell Williams’s Louis Vuitton present at Paris fashion week could be rescheduled to 9pm, there have been collective sighs of annoyance.
However all was forgiven once they arrived on the house behind the Pompidou Centre to be instructed that Beyoncé and Jay-Z could be attending. The star and her husband, and nephew Julez Smith, joined what was already a starry entrance row – which included Omar Sy, Steve McQueen, PinkPantheress, Spike Lee, Emile Smith Rowe and Victor Wembanyama.
Even and not using a megastar, the present was well worth the wait. Williams took over as inventive director of menswear in June 2023 and his spring-summer 2026 assortment was his finest but – with louche retro tailoring and weird mixtures corresponding to cargo pants and a shrunken sweater.
The gathering excelled when performing certainly one of luxurious’s present favorite methods – making premium variations of on a regular basis gadgets. Right here, that included a striped polo shirt, and a boxy work shirt and chinos. This look, worn with a ribbed vest, is more likely to be copied by those that like vogue however lack Louis Vuitton budgets.
Entitled Paris to India, Williams was impressed by what the press launch known as “the multifaceted sensibilities of present-day Indian sartorialism”. In observe, the affect of India’s aesthetics may very well be seen most clearly in ornate ornament on the trunks some fashions wheeled down the runway.
The set of the present was created by Bijoy Jain, the founding father of architects Studio Mumbai. An enormous rendering of snakes and ladders – an Indian recreation that dates to the second century – was hand-painted on the catwalk. A monitor known as Yaara Punjabi, co-produced by the Indian composer AR Rahman, featured on the soundtrack performed by a dwell orchestra.
If collaboration with Indian creatives gave voice to the tradition that supplied inspiration to a group by a European megabrand, there have been additionally some barely extra reductive tropes, as with the embroidered unique animals. These made use of images initially created by Louis Vuitton in 2007 for Wes Anderson’s The Darjeeling Restricted, a movie set in India however remaining, as critic Ellen E Jones wrote last year, a “whimsically white nostalgia-world”. Nonetheless, gadgets corresponding to striped ties have been a nod to India’s beloved cricket, whereas a trekking-adjacent backpack with tenting roll felt extra playful and related to now.
The energy of this assortment reveals that Williams’s standpoint is now coming by extra in his work at Louis Vuitton. For autumn-winter 2025, he collaborated along with his longtime buddy Nigo, who based the streetwear model A Bathing Ape. His skateboarding previous is obvious in the truth that the skater Tyshawn Jones is a Louis Vuitton ambassador and the model’s new Tilted coach is being compared to classic Vans.
Williams has persistently introduced his well-known pals and star energy. He was co-chair of the Metropolitan Museum’s Superfine exhibition, which celebrated Black model and was part-sponsored by Louis Vuitton. He dressed celebrities attending the Met Gala, together with Doechii, Future, Sabrina Carpenter and Jeremy Allen White.
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Not all of Williams’s work right here was celebrated. The symbolism of a LV monogram on Doechii’s cheek was criticised by some online. “LOVE me some Doechii … I’m completely not into this European emblem ‘branded’ on her pores and skin for an evening celebrating the labor and ingenuity of Black tradition and Black males,” wrote a Threads person.
This isn’t the primary time Williams has confronted some backlash at Louis Vuitton, a $1m (£734,705) bag created from crocodile pores and skin was described as “an insensitive declaration of worldwide north privilege” by the style commentator Caryn Franklin in 2023, whereas his continued use of fur prompted a Peta protester on the premiere of his animated movie Piece by Piece in 2024.
Louis Vuitton’s mother or father firm, LVMH, reported that income within the group’s vogue and leather-based items divisions fell by 11% and three% respectively within the first quarter of 2025. Even with these skirmishes of controversy, the model might be hoping that Williams’ mixture of glitzy pals and pop culture-friendly designs will guarantee an uptick in gross sales.