An overview of all the experiences that have led the music producer to head Louis Vuitton’s creative direction: from rap music to catwalks on the Pont Neuf
The first steps: Pharrell Wiliams becoming a recognized producer
In his career as a producer, songwriter and performer, one cannot help but mention Chad Hugo, a saxophonist with whom he founded his first duo in his high school days. With the same he started the Neptunes, a group with a performance intent at first that evolved into an actual production studio.
Projects that brought Pharrell Williams success include in the early 1990s Tonight’s The Night by Blackstreet, then Mase’s Lookin’ At Me and N.O.R.E. by Superthug. Reaching a high position on the Billboard Hot 100 was the step to continue the career initially in this direction. In 1999 the meeting with Kelis was final to enter the production market among the big pop stars of the day.
Thus came the production of Britney Spears for Slave 4 U, Beyonce for Work It Out, and Justin Timberlake for his debut album Justified. The Neptunes became among the major players in the music industry producing up to forty-three percent of the songs that played on radio in the United States in 2003, and the trademark of Pharrell William was already recognizable far before his solo performances.
The human diversity performances trait: Pharrell Williams
From performances with the Neptunes Pharrell Williams moved on to form a new band, N*E*R*D, again with Chad Hugo and a new member Shay Haley. Although they specialized in producing top hits, they never achieved international fame with their songs.
Then a series of collaborations, personal and with the Neptunes, including Snoop Dogg and a performance as drummer at the 2004 Grammy Awards per Sting, where Pharrell was also honored for his production work. He had his first real approach to vocals in Snoop Dogg’s track Drop It Like It’s Hot, in which he appears in the video clip sporting the style of an early 2000s rapper amidst tied-up T-shirts, hats, imposing belts, and show-off jewelry.
The first solo album is an act of self-centeredness with no purpose, Williams would declare on In My Mind released in 2006, which did not receive a positive response. He returned to the scenes helplessly with the presence in Get Lucky, Daft Punk single and riched the success as a worldwide performer thanks to the results the trio reached both in the awards and in the sales.
This song together with the co-presence and production of Blurred Lines, Pharrell Williams reached the peak of his fame. His style meanwhile evolved keeping him as a trend setter in the music sphere and in the fashion industry, to be mentioned is the high hat he wears in diverse occasions. Overcoming scores such as the Beatles’ ones in sales, he produced and released his song Happy becoming also a top video producer and a global star voice starting from 2014.
The humanities Pharrell approach to fashion industry
Pharrell William’s singular approach to fashion is probably expressed several years after the launch of multiple projects by Karl Lagerfeld, who calls his pieces #CHANELPHARRELL collection in a collaboration. Following success in the music field Williams began to be recognized for a personal and specific style linked to that of music producers of the time that mixed sweatshirts with luxury brands and exaggerated high-value jewelry.
Meeting with a Japanese streetwear icon, founder of A Bathing Ape (BAPE) and currently creative director of Kenzo, Nigö, allowed Pharrell Williams to start cooperations in the fashion industry. Also going beyond the use of his image, but working on specific designs and inserting his works in the fashion history framework. From this union was founded in 2003 Billionaire Boys Club, a streetwear brand still operating globally that today covers a wide range of products, along with external projects for sneakers for example.
The first contact with Louis Vuitton and the evolution in the luxury sphere
The first contact with the brand for which Wiliams now serves as menswear creative director came in 2005. That year, fashion history saw Marc Jacobs as creative director of Louis Vuitton. Following his personal experience in the fashion industry, Pharrell Williams conceived and designed together with Nigo the Millionaire sunglasses.
The accessory was meant for the Marc Jacobs Spring Summer 2005 collection, and later was also reworked by Virgil Abloh. Williams’ connection with the industry, but especially with Louis Vuitton, has been explicit not only in production collaborations, including outerwear pieces and the Blason jewelry collection, but also in supporting its image.
From his humanities relationship with former creative director Marc Jacobs to his testimonial experiences and constant presence at presentations of new collections. In addition to this relevant brand among collaborations in recent years is the capsule collection designed for Chanel in 2019. With a clear reference to Pharrell Williams’ personal style, the pieces echoed lavish colors and imposing jewelry designed especially for it.
Pharrell Williams for Louis Vuitton: the legacy for a renovate men in human diversity
The past year has been a time of radical change for Pharrell Williams and for fashion history, as reflected in the change of creative direction of several luxury houses. Louis Vuitton in particular suffered from humanities and professional because of the death of Virgil Abloh, who had stamped his original brand on the menswear collection.
They followed his passing in 2021 with the directions of the style department and Colm Dillane, who is in charge of the KIDSUPER project, as guest designer. «I am happy to see Pharrell coming in as our new creative director, after our collaborations between 2004 and 2008 for Louis Vuitton», Pietro Beccari, CEO of the brand, had said upon the revelation of the new menswear creative director.
Expectations about Abloh’s succession had fallen on a character rather than a designer who could likely carry on the former’s legacy and streetwear work, while also going on to hybridize the fashion industry with outside elements and influences. Pharrell Williams’ debut as creative director in June 2023 saw the presentation of the SS24 collection.
He commented on his new assignment by expressing his own meaning of LV, LVERS, with a humanities approach to the brand. He also framed the taste of the brand’s buyers in four categories: «dandy, tailoring for business engagements and events; comfort, which is what you wear at home and at the gas station; resort, for when you’re at the beach; sports and the Maison’s core garments».
Louis Vuitton Spring Summer 2024: the interconnected drop out
More than fifty Louis Vuitton stores embraced Pharrell Williams’ humanitarian idea of the sun taking center stage with its power and energy. For the worldwide drop out of the Spring Summer 2024 collection, the indoor setting of the Pont Neuf in Paris was brought back thanks to immersive, multi-sensory installations.
Features of the different rooms include concealed corners dedicated to the Speedy P9 bag, as well as mini karts filled with the iconic trunks and holograms featuring the collection in digital form. The boutiques, taking inspiration from the location of Williams’ first fashion show, which connects the two sides of the Seine, now aim to create imaginary bridges between the human diversity that populates the globe.
The bridge also symbolizes the bond the creative director celebrates between Paris, the city where the brand is established, and Virginia, the state where he was born. The LVER logo is echoed in the packaging as well as the deconstruction of the Damier pattern in pixels and camouflage, also making the in-store experience immersive are the uniforms of the client advisors that echo those of the orchestra that played at the fashion show.
Human diversity: Louis Vuitton exploration in Fall Winter 2024
From Paris, Louis Vuitton’s new Fall Winter 2024 collection lands in western Virginia, embracing the human diversity that Pharrell Williams as creative director embodies. The location amid clusters of centuries-old rocks and expanses of desert hosts a collection that mixes the distinctive features of the fashion house with pieces of traditional Native American clothing.
Fringing is the first key element to appear on coats and then to adorn the side edges of pants. The color palette also focuses on the neutral tones of the setting creating a mix of white, denim, sandy red and brown in different shades with the garish ones of Louis Vuitton bags such as light blue and fuchsia. Wide-brimmed hats and Texans are the most featured accessories along with Monogram LV belts.
The new version of the Pixelated Damier returns in this season’s colors declined in all forms, on bags, large trunks, accessories and even in overall suits. Different also the animal patterns in black and white that are laid on the fabrics as well as on different footwear. The flared and bell-bottomed version of the pants is a staple as well as the combination with skirt overlapping the pants. Paris LVirginia is the premise of the show’s entry to land in a new world, a humanities study in the history of the Louis Vuitton brand that stops in Virginia.
Pharrell Williams
Known for his performing career, Pharrell Williams landed in the international music world at first as a producer. His style borrowed earlier from rap and later from pop makes him the bearer of a refined personal taste, leading him to a number of fashion collaborations. Since 2022 he has held the position of creative director for the Louis Vuitton menswear section brand.
