Louis Vuitton names Pharrell Williams new head of menswear

Luxury French brand Louis Vuitton on Tuesday announced the appointment of hip-hop artist Pharrell Williams as its new head of menswear.

“Louis Vuitton is delighted to welcome Pharrell as its new Men’s Creative Director. His first collection for Louis Vuitton will be revealed next June during Men’s Fashion Week in Paris,” the company wrote on Twitter.

Williams would fill the spot left vacant since the death of Virgil Abloh from cancer in November 2021.

Earlier, the Wall Street Journal and Le Figaro reported the news, citing sources with knowledge of the talks.

The 49-year-old is an established superstar in the music world, with 13 Grammys and two Oscar nominations, and he has been a fixture in the front row of fashion shows for many years.

Louis Vuitton’s sales have soared since the pandemic, with the company now worth more than $20 billion – helping to turn the owner of its parent company LVMH, Bernard Arnault, into the world’s richest person.

The French brand had been happy to keep coasting on the hype generated by Abloh’s three-year tenure, using his team and guest designers for recent shows.

Last month, it put on one of the most talked-about shows of menswear week in Paris with a performance by popstar Rosalia and overseen by a collective of strongly hyped young designers.

Williams, who came to fame in the 1990s as part of hip-hop group The Neptunes, was not often mentioned in the rumors around the succession, but would fit perfectly with the label’s recent moves to attract a younger streetwear-focused audience.

He has teamed with many fashion brands for individual lines, including Diesel, Chanel, Moncler and Adidas.

He partnered with Louis Vuitton in 2008 under then-creative director Marc Jacobs for a jewelry and sunglasses line.