01WHEN LOUIS VUITTON MADE PHARRELL WILLIAMS ITS MEN'S CREATIVE
DIRECTOR, THE CRITICS WERE BLUNT: HE IS A MUSICIAN, NOT A TRAINED
DESIGNER. SEVERAL SEASONS ON, HE STILL RUNS MENSWEAR AT LOUIS
VUITTON, AND THE SHOWS ARE FULL-BLOWN CULTURAL EVENTS.
02THE DOUBT WAS NOT PURE SNOBBERY. PHARRELL CAME FROM MUSIC AND
CULTURE, NOT A CUTTING TABLE, AND HE SUCCEEDED VIRGIL ABLOH, A
BELOVED DESIGNER WHO DIED IN 2021. THE QUESTION WAS FAIR: CAN A
CULTURE MAN ACTUALLY RUN A COUTURE-LEVEL MACHINE?
03HERE IS WHAT THE DOUBTERS MISSED. LVMH DID NOT HIRE PHARRELL TO
CUT PATTERNS. IT HIRED HIM TO DO WHAT HE HAS ALWAYS DONE WELL:
KNOW WHAT PEOPLE WANT TO FEEL LIKE BEFORE THEY CAN NAME IT, AND
TURN A BRAND INTO A CULTURAL CENTRE OF GRAVITY.
04AND THE MACHINE BEHIND HIM IS REAL. A LOUIS VUITTON CREATIVE
DIRECTOR SITS ATOP ONE OF FASHION'S DEEPEST ATELIERS AND STUDIO
TEAMS. THE JOB IS DIRECTION AND VISION, NOT SOLO TAILORING, AND
DIRECTION IS EXACTLY WHAT PHARRELL HAS ALWAYS TRADED IN.
05THE SHOWS BACK IT UP AS SPECTACLE. A RUNWAY ACROSS A PARIS BRIDGE,
GLOBAL STARS IN THE FRONT ROW, SPEAKER-RATTLING MUSIC, MILLIONS
WATCHING THE LIVESTREAM. PHARRELL TURNED THE MENSWEAR SHOW INTO
ONE OF THE BRAND'S LOUDEST MARKETING MOMENTS.
06SO THE MYTH IS WORTH RETIRING. 'A MUSICIAN CANNOT DESIGN' ASSUMES
THE JOB IS PURELY SCISSORS AND THREAD. AT THIS SCALE IT IS TASTE,
CULTURE AND DIRECTION, AND ON THAT, PHARRELL WAS ARGUABLY THE
SAFEST BET IN THE ROOM. LOVE IT OR NOT, IT WORKS.