Pharrell Williams is the superstar at the back of rankings of tune earworms, whose agelessness, sharp flavor and forays into layout have additionally made him a fixture at the style circuit for many years.
The pop culture renaissance guy will now head menswear layout for Louis Vuitton, entering into the shoes of Virgil Abloh and turning into, after his predecessor, the second Black man to take at the function.
The trailblazing Abloh died of most cancers in November 2021, and his spot on the European luxury residence has remained vacant on account that.
The luxurious fashion residence introduced Tuesday the appointment of the hip-hop artist as its new head of menswear. “Louis Vuitton is overjoyed to welcome Pharrell as its new Men’s Creative Director with immediate effect,” the storied emblem said in a declaration.His first series for Louis Vuitton may be provided in June throughout Men’s Fashion Week in Paris, it introduced.
The forty nine-12 months-old is an established celeb in the song world, with thirteen Grammys and two Oscar nominations, and has been a fixture within the the front row of fashion indicates for years. While he become no longer among the ones maximum rumoured as the successor, his streetwise sensibility meshes properly with the brand’s recent push to draw younger audiences.
“Pharrell Williams is a visionary whose innovative universe spans from song to artwork to style — setting up himself as a usual cultural icon during the last two decades,” said the style residence, part of the LVMH luxury conglomerate.
Louis Vuitton head Pietro Beccari praised Pharrell’s “innovative vision past style,” announcing it would lead the label “closer to a brand new and really exciting chapter.”
“I’m overjoyed to peer Pharrell come lower back to the residence as the new innovative director for men, after our collaborations in 2004 and 2008 for Louis Vuitton,” stated the style residence’s leader government, Pietro Beccari.
In addition to teaming with brands which include Adidas, Diesel, Chanel and Moncler, the prolific songwriter, producer and performer already partnered with Louis Vuitton, including in 2008 on a jewelry and sun shades line.
He and his longtime companion, the fashion clothier Helen Lasichanh, wed in 2013. In 2016 Williams changed into named co-proprietor of denims logo G-Star Raw, and also co-based the Japanese clothing maker Billionaire Boys Club.The French logo had been satisfied to hold coasting at the hype generated by using Abloh’s three-12 months tenure, using his group and visitor designers for current shows.
Abloh, who died aged forty one, have become a celeb among millennials as he astutely combined luxury fashion with streetwear.
Last month, Louis Vuitton put on one of the most talked-about indicates of menswear week in Paris with a overall performance through pop megastar Rosalia and overseen with the aid of a collective of strongly hyped younger designers.
Williams, who got here to fame in the 1990s as part of the hip-hop institution The Neptunes, become now not often mentioned in hypothesis surrounding the job.
But he suits with the label’s recent moves to draw a younger, streetwear-focused target market, and the hobbies he shares with Abloh encompass skateboarding, art and tune.
He became also keen on Abloh’s: “Virgil you were a kind, generous, considerate creative genius your work as a human and your paintings as a spiritual being will live for all time,” he wrote upon the dressmaker’s death.
He has formerly teamed with different fashion manufacturers for man or woman lines, together with Diesel, Chanel, Moncler and Adidas.
His partnership with Louis Vuitton in 2008 underneath then-innovative director Marc Jacobs was for a jewellery and sunglasses line.
In 2016, Williams was named co-proprietor of jeans logo G-Star Raw, and additionally co-based the Japanese clothing maker Billionaire Boys Club.