Luxury French brand, Louis Vuitton has named rapper and music producer, Pharrell Williams as its new creative director for its men's wear line. The
Luxury French brand, Louis Vuitton has named rapper and music producer, Pharrell Williams as its new creative director for its men’s wear line.
The 49-year-old landed what is considered one of the most high-profile creative director roles in men’s fashion.
Announcing the appointment in a statement via Instagram, the brand revealed that it had hired Williams about 16 months after the sudden death of its previous men’s wear artistic designer, Virgil Abloh, in 2021.
Abloh died of cardiac angosacoma, a type cancer at the age of 41.
The brand described Williams as a visionary whose creativity expands from music to art, and to fashion establishing himself as a cultural global icon.
Industry watchers are already looking forward to what he has to offer when his first collection will be shown in June at Men’s Fashion Week in Paris.
This won’t be Williams’ first rodeo in fashion as he was the first male ambassador for Chanel and had worked off and on with Louis Vuitton since 2004.
More recently, he entered into a collaboration with jeweler, Tiffany & Company.
Years ago, he created influential streetwear brands like ‘Billionaire Boys Club’ and ‘Ice Cream’ in partnership with the Japanese designer, Nigo, now the artistic director at Kenzo also owned by LVMH).
Williams’ appointment underscores a trend among luxury goods makers to put their brands in the hands of multi-hyphenate celebrities rather than designers by profession.
Other high-profile entertainers to be embraced by luxury fashion in recent years include Rihanna, whose Fenty clothing line in partnership with LVMH got stunted in 2021 and embattled Kanye West aka Ye who became a regular fixture at fashion weeks around the world showcasing other designer brands in addition to his.
