Following the news that luxury fashion house Louis Vuitton has appointed musician and entrepreneur Pharrell Williams as new menswear creative director; Louise Deglise-Favre, Apparel Analyst at GlobalData, offers her view: “Music-producer Pharrell Williams has been announced as the successor to the late Virgil Abloh as Louis Vuitton’s menswear creative director to mixed responses. While Williams might seem as an odd choice at first glance, the star has a long-standing history with the fashion world, launching the pioneering streetwear brand Billionaire Boys Club in the early noughties and collaborating with luxury fashion brands such as Chanel, Moncler and even Louis Vuitton itself throughout the years.
“The move undoubtedly means that Louis Vuitton is betting on star power and mass appeal, choosing a familiar face to represent the brand as it embarks on this new chapter. However, Williams has big shoes to fill, as Abloh radically transformed the brand’s menswear division through his innovative vision of luxury.
“Choosing Pharrell Williams also indicates that Louis Vuitton is doubling down on the streetwear influences that Virgil Abloh brought to the brand, which allowed it to be so successful in recent years and resonate with luxury’s new crucial audience of Gen-Z shoppers.”
