Pharrell Williams pays tribute to the American Western in third show for Louis Vuitton

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Pharrell Williams kicked off Paris men’s fashion week with a third blockbuster show for Louis Vuitton following his debut show and the pre-fall show that took place in Hong Kong last month. Around 1,200 guests attended the show at Jardin d’Acclimatation behind Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris, including Bradley Cooper, ⁠⁠Jackson Wang, ⁠⁠Karlie Kloss, Omar Sy and K-pop stars from Riize (who were named Louis Vuitton ambassadors back in December).

The bar was high following the star-studded debut show in June 2023, which included a performance by Jay-Z and garnered $42 million in media impact value (MIV), according to tech and social media analytics provider Launchmetrics (MIV assigns a monetary amount to every post, interaction and article). The Autumn/Winter 2024 show didn’t disappoint, once again mixing the worlds of fashion, music, entertainment and food.

Photos: Estrop/Getty Images

While pared-down silhouettes are still dominating menswear, Williams didn’t shy away from going all out. The 80-look collection was a tribute to the American Western wardrobe. There were cowboy shirts, chaps and workwear silhouettes enriched by details like turquoise beading. “It was a little bit over the top, in a good sense,” Antonio Belloni, LVMH Group’s managing director, told Vogue Business after the show.

A billboard carrying the words “Paris Virginia” set the tone at the show venue (Williams was born in Virginia Beach). The set was AI-designed and reminiscent of Colorado’s Monument Valley. The collection included a collaboration with the American bootmaker Timberland, which the designer had teased on his unofficial Instagram account @Skateboard a few days before. The collaboration consists of 10 different designs of the typical Timberland workboots, including a limited-edition boot crafted with eyelets and tongue pendants featuring the LV monogram in genuine gold. Williams had already collaborated with Timberland at least once before he joined Louis Vuitton — notably with his Billionaire Boys Club brand on the Bee Line in 2015.

Photos: Estrop/Getty Images

The casting included rapper Pusha T and French fencer Enzo Lefort, who became an ambassador for both Louis Vuitton and LVMH in October 2023 as part of the partnership between LVMH and the Paris 2024 Olympics. Just as in Williams’s first show, three female models walked the runway in varying looks.

After the show, guests ignored the cold to taste a barbecue and fried chicken prepared by celebrity chef Jean Imbert that was served by food trucks outside the venue before returning inside for a performance by the Native Voices of Resistance — a powwow group of singers from Native American nations across North America. Folk rock band Mumford & Sons performed straight after, joined by Williams.

Williams’s first collection hit stores earlier this month. While Louis Vuitton could not provide figures at this stage, the LVMH annual earnings conference set for next week could well offer a view of how it has been performing. All eyes are on LVMH’s fashion and leather goods division, which includes Louis Vuitton, the world’s largest luxury brand (with sales over €20 billion in 2022), as a bellwether for the industry.