After Virgil Abloh, Pharrell Williams, as the second black creative director in brand history, has also not received any formal education in high-end fashion design. Both of them have strong public appeal and can create entertainment topics for the brand with ease.
Compared to Virgil Abloh, who founded the fashion brand Off White, Pharrell Williams has many connections with haute couture, but his personal brands Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream mainly focus on trendy clothing, with the support of his friend Nigo.
In fact, just as Virgil Abloh had a gathering of top ranked people five years ago, last night’s LV 2024 spring/summer men’s fashion show was a bigger carnival.
Celebrities such as pop stars Jay Z and Beyonce, Rihanna and Asap Rocky, brand new spokesperson Zendaya, supermodel Naomi Campbell, adidas CEO Bjorn Bulden, Kenzo Creative Director Nigo, and football star James attended the fashion show. The performance of Chinese pianist Lang Lang and the performance of Virginia Gospel Choir ignited the atmosphere on site. Pharrell personally performed with Jay Z in a choir after the show.
Everything looks like a continuation and amplification.
The five years in the fashion industry seem like a century, enough to reverse the magnetic poles.
The first men’s clothing collection released by the late designer Virgil Abloh on Louis Vuitton in the summer of 2018 is still vividly remembered. A series of fluorescent color series new products under the sunshine, with a distinct attitude, tear open a gap in the classic and conservative luxury goods industry, making the gaps in the screen shine brightly and the crowd boil.
The news that LV, the world’s largest luxury brand, has seen its first black creative director rise to power in nearly two hundred years, is enough to shake the market, but more importantly, this decision comes from the Arnault family in France, known for its adherence to tradition, a family rumored to wear suits in every occasion, place great emphasis on family education and classical music inheritance.
In 2018, when the topic of new money and old money was not yet lively, LV has clearly stated that the brand represents the new rich of the times, not traditional old money. The inauguration of Virgil Abloh is a reflection of the rise of new elites.
