Louis Vuitton has appointed Pharrell Williams as its new men’s creative director, effective immediately. His first collection for Louis Vuitton will be revealed in Paris this June during Men’s Fashion Week.
Williams’s creative endeavours in the worlds of music, art, film and fashion have established him as a boundary-breaking visionary, with numerous Grammy Awards; two Oscar nominations, for his original song Happy (Despicable Me 2) and for Best Picture-nominated Hidden Figures (2016) as co-producer; and an Emmy-nomination for his original song Letter to My Godfather, for Netflix’s The Black Godfather about legendary music executive Clarence Avant. And, in 2020, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame for his work in The Neptunes, the hip-hop songwriting and production duo he formed with Chad Hugo that saw his rise to fame in the nineties.
Williams, who replaces Virgil Abloh, who died in 2021, previously collaborated with Louis Vuitton in 2004 and 2008. He has a strong track record as a fashion designer and entrepreneur, with his Billionaire Boys Club streetwear brand, which he co-founded in 2003 with Japanese designer Nigo, and which has evolved into a family of brands (ICECREAM, Bee Line and Billionaire Girls Club), all underscored by the mantra that “wealth is of the heart and mind. Not the pocket.”
He is also the co-owner of G-Star Raw Denim and creative director of textile company Bionic Yarn, which makes fabrics from recycled ocean plastic. Along the way, he has collaborated with brands including Moncler, Adidas, Tiffany & Co., Timberland, Comme des Garçons, Ladurée macarons, and Moynat. In 2015, Williams received the CFDA Fashion Icon Award from Kanye West.
In 2020, the multi-hyphenate entrepreneur launched Humanrace, a gender-neutral beauty company with a mission to empower all people in their pursuit of wellbeing, guided by experiences from his own wellness journey and in the belief that taking better care of ourselves can teach us to take better care of each other.
On the lifestyle front, in 2019, Williams teamed up with David Grutman and opened Swan and Bar Bevy in Miami’s Design District, and The Goodtime Hotel in 2021.
A respected philanthropist, in 2019 Williams founded YELLOW, a non-profit working to even the odds for all youth through education, helping them realise their potential. In 2020, Williams launched Black Ambition, a non-profit initiative that provides a bridge to success for Black and Latinx entrepreneurs who are launching tech, healthcare, Web 3.0 and consumer products/services start-ups.
With such diverse creative experience behind him, his tenure at Louis Vuitton is sure to take the brand in new and unexpected directions. Pietro Beccari, Louis Vuitton’s chairman and CEO agrees, saying in a statement that, “[Pharrell Williams’s] creative vision beyond fashion will undoubtedly lead Louis Vuitton towards a new and very exciting chapter”.
We look forward to seeing what comes next for Mr Williams and Louis Vuitton.
