Are We Ready For Louis Vuitton’s New Creative Director?
Speculation has been at the forefront of Louis Vuitton for over a year.
Names including Martine Rose, Telfar Clemens and Samuel Ross were all mentioned at some point as names of the potential successor of the late monolith, Virgil Abloh. With the latest collection being made by the team at Louis Vuitton who were greatly inspired by Virgil’s previous collections (with help by collaborators Rosalia and Colm Dillane), there has been growing tension on how the brand was going to expand and who was going to take over from such an influential figure for the brand. This collection was a one-off and was focused on continuing his legacy while we wait patiently for the next creative director to take over.
It’s a given that Louis Vuitton has developed significantly under Virgil Abloh’s reign. Some of his most infamous collections was under the brand, including the AW/20 Mens show which showcased an array of looks heavily inspired ‘by the clouds’. Abloh interrogated the traditional workwear suit in several ways, integrating his history in architectural design and a genius street-wear infused perspective on the contemporary to create garments that modernised menswear permanently. His focus on streetwear and silhouette has modified luxury fashion for menswear and ultimately put menswear on the map in a new and vibrant way which includes everyone.
But now, we must put our hesitations to the side and welcome the new creative director for menswear — Pharrell Williams. Appointed on the 14th February 2023, it was announced by LVMH that he would be taking over with immediate effect, with his first collection being at the beginning of June.
The initial reaction from the public was mixed. For Abloh fans who knew that Pharrell was very close to the family and had similar ways of visualising fashion, they were excited to see a continuation for the late designer. For those who saw Pharrell’s track-record in fashion in comparison to his music, it was confusing to see someone who hasn’t pushed for fashion as a sole industry to get the top job for Louis Vuitton. Many felt like this appointment was a statement on the current climate of the industry, putting top names in jobs that they could potentially be not prepared or qualified for; though Pharrell has definitely had some collaborations with fashion companies, there isn’t any visual proof to show that he heavily inspired those curations. There is room for mistake and for a brand so big, can cause devastating effects on its continuation.
Pharrell raised to fame as a core member of The Neptunes in the 1990s before separating to develop his music career independently. With a focus on producing, he has solidified himself in his niche of a mixture of pop and hip-hop. In the early 2000’s, he founded The Billionaires Boy Club with A Bathing Ape founder Nigo, who heavily influenced the way he saw and visualised clothes. From then to now, he has continued to go to influential fashion shows around the world, but hasn’t made any statements on his brand development apart from a launch on his new skincare line called Humanrace in 2021.
Similar to Abloh, Pharrell is recognised as a visionary that is focused on concept and story-telling rather than a creative director on technique. That isn’t to say that he doesn’t have the technical scope or flair; he has proved that in various collaborations he has made in the fashion industry including the several he has done with Louis Vuitton in 2004 and 2008, but his concept pushes the product rather than the product itself when it comes to curation and design. In fashion brands, especially luxury brands that mainly tailor their concept to the product to allow it to speak for itself, it manifests a bigger conversation on what the skillset is the become a successful creative director in the field.
Lets put it into perspective: Why shouldn’t Pharrell have a chance as the creative director? His concepts are always built on social change and the evolution of human beings, which always have positive influences on product and its impact on the consumer. For Humanrace, his products reflect on how we take care of ourselves as a parallel on how we take care of one-another. Wellbeing as a resource is fundamental for emotional freedom, and Pharrell is funding that for accessibility. This will empower the consumer to purchase his product and feel good about their impact on social change, only if they relate to the consensus of the value being funded.
With Louis Vuitton however, there isn’t any concept on social change. Sure the brand can build on its modernism on menswear as a statement of its evolution as social change, but fashion doesn’t exactly correspond as the link towards the consumer and the greater good. Clothing can quickly become merch-ified by its push on activism, causing negative connotations like Dior Women’s with its environmentalism and feminism causing contradictions by its history of consumerism and behaviourism. Pharrell has alot to build on from his portfolio, and this is a major step towards the fashion industry.
Will he be able to handle the responsibility of creative director? We will have to wait till june to find out the answer. Until then, we will watch closely on their social media to see what hints they can give for one of the most anticipated collections for fashion week.