Pharrell’s vision for Louis Vuitton thus far has been built around an adventurous wardrobe, one that uplifts the connective power of travel that is woven into the DNA of the maison. His third outing, staged last night at Louis Vuitton’s foundation on the outskirts of Paris, transported guests to the wild west, as the multi-hyphenate set out to celebrate American Western dress.
A collision of workwear codes inspired by his native Virginia and elevated, Parisian craftsmanship, Pharrell proposed everything from leather chaps and decorative denim, to fringed shirts worn with bolo ties, rustic leather trousers and flared, slender suiting accented with hand-embroidered florals.
The designer revisited the pixilated Damier Check that populated his June debut, now in desert orange, and collided the signature house motif with buffalo plaids across bomber jackets, handsome shirts and a slew of LV trunks. They were wheeled around the show space by models wearing the house’s new link-up with Timberland, with Pharrell embossing the brand’s signature workwear boots with LV’s monogram (as you expect, they’re already causing mass online frenzy).
Elsewhere, cowboy boots made in collaboration with Texan bootmaker Goodyear were paired alongside a gaggle of Western updates to the recently revitalised Speedy bag, now fashioned in excellent cowhide, with one studded iteration featuring a tasselled leather saddle – giddy up!
Throughout, Pharrell collaborated with first nations communities on various components of the show – be it stamping accessories with the Dakota flower to working with Native Voices of Resistance on the soundtrack, who alongside the Louis Vuitton atelier joined Pharrell as he took his bow. His vision for the house continues to shine bright.
Photography by Christina Fragkou.
