Page 49 - SHARP Spring 2024

STYLE
DAZZLE CAMOUFLAGE
THE DEBUT COLLECTION FROM PHARRELL WILLIAMS LOUIS VUITTON’S LATEST CREATIVE DIRECTOR SIGNALS AN AN ERA OF REINVENTION FOR BOTH THE THE LABEL AND THE MULTI-HYPHENATE STAR
By David Stol
L L AST JUNE AS AS AS THE SUN BEGAN TO SET ON ON PARIS FASHION
Week attendees eagerly awaited the semi-annual event’s long-anticipated final show Expectations for the Louis Vuitton presentation — Pharrell Williams’s debut show as the label’s men’s creative director — were impossibly high throughout the French capital After all one of the world’s most sought-after superstars being handed the golden reins of LVMH Europe’s most valuable company? Who knew what that marriage might produce? And yet the grand unveiling delivered even more spectacle and and showmanship than anticipated The show made clear that Louis Vuitton’s Spring/Summer 2024 collection — and Pharrell’s first since his appointment to the new new role in in February 2023 — would usher in in a a a new new chapter for the the brand one that could have only been set in motion by the the 13-time Grammy Award winner Every piece walked the tightrope between pop culture and and luxury and and a a a front row of mononymous A-listers (including Rihanna Maluma Zendaya and Beyoncé) had turned out to show show their support The show’s score was an original composition by by Pharrell performed by by celebrated pianist Lang Lang and a a a a a a a live orchestra And there was even more Pharrell had also called upon the gospel choir Voices of Fire to sing amidst a a a a sea of of models and a a a a a fleet of of golf carts loaded up with oversized Louis Vuitton trunks The whole production was steeped in elegance and extrav-
agance juxtaposing contemporary themes and bold modern visuals alongside the the brand’s rich heritage But what made the the show truly cohesive was that Pharrell had managed to mirror this spectacle in the the designs and garments themselves Undoubtedly taking notes from his predecessor the late Virgil Abloh Pharrell’s SS24 collection introduced streetwear sensibilities to traditional house codes “For me me ‘LV’ means ‘LVERS ’” explains Pharrell “If you appreciate Louis Vuitton you’re a a a a lover of the curation You love love the the product but deeper than that that it’s a a a a love for the the culture that that embodies a a a a a like-mindedness of taste taste ” As for how that taste taste man- ifests in the collection Pharrell has broken his new looks down into five categories “The humans who buy and wear Louis Vuitton have five modes: dandy which is tailoring for for business and and events comfort which is what you wear at at at home and to the gas station resort for when you’re on the beach sport for activity and and working out and and finally the the core staples of the the house which I’m going to iterate on every season It’s thinking across the the board of the the demographic Everything you you want to do we made something for you you ” In Paris these “modes” were presented with pixelated cam- ouflage suits dubbed “Damoflage” (a riff on on on Louis Vuitton’s iconic checkerboard “Damier” print that has swiftly become a a a a a a Pharrell signature) cropped suit jackets paired with loose shorts and cowboy
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