In an unexpected move, Louis Vuitton confirmed Tuesday afternoon that musician and entrepreneur Pharrell Williams has been named its new men’s creative director, effective immediately.
According to the label, Williams’s first collection for Louis Vuitton will be revealed this June during Men’s Fashion Week in Paris.
Pietro Beccari, Louis Vuitton’s newly-appointed chairman and CEO, said in a statement that he is “glad” to welcome Williams “back home” after their previous collaborations together in 2004 and 2008.
“His creative vision beyond fashion will undoubtedly lead Louis Vuitton towards a new and very exciting chapter,” Beccari added.
Williams is the true definition of a multi-hyphenate creative. His resume includes a long list of job titles including recording artist, producer, songwriter, philanthropist, fashion designer, and entrepreneur with 10 billion combined global music streams to date.
The creative isn’t new to fashion, either. He cofounded the streetwear brand Billionaire Boys Club in 2003 with Nigo, who is now creative director of Kenzo, and have since gone on to launch other clothing, accessories, and lifestyle brands including IceCream, Bee Line and Billionaire Girls Club. And in 2020, the longtime Adidas collaborator founded Humanrace, a product company with a mission to “empower all individuals in their pursuit of wellbeing across product and people,” the label said.
Musically, he has been honored with 13 Grammy Awards, including 2004, 2014, and 2019 Producer of the Year, and ASCAP’s Golden Note Award in 2012. He has received two Academy Award nominations for his original song “Happy” and for Best Picture-nominated Hidden Figures in 2016 as co-producer.
Williams is also an activist. In 2019, Williams founded Yellow, a non-profit working to even the odds for all youth through education, helping them realize their potential. In 2020, Williams launched Black Ambition, a non-profit initiative that provides a bridge to success for Black and Latinx entrepreneurs who are launching tech, healthcare, Web3 and consumer products/services start-ups.
A longtime advocate against racial injustice, Williams was an integral part in talks with Virginia Governor Northam about Juneteenth being a permanent paid state holiday. In April 2019, Williams launched his first Something In The Water, a multi-day music festival and experience on the beach in his hometown of Virginia Beach. This April, Something In The Water returns to Virginia Beach and will continue its mission spotlighting the community.
This appointment comes less than one month after Brooklyn-based designer Colm Dillane showed his designs as part of a collective of creatives for Louis Vuitton’s fall/winter 2023 menswear collection. The KidSuper founder and designer came to the table with a 500-page book of ideas, but Vuitton’s in-house team had already designed a large portion of the collection, which revolved loosely around the theme of connectivity. “I was there to add story, add a little bit of spice and fantasy,” Dillane told FN sister publication WWD in an interview.
The position had been left unfilled since the untimely death of Virgil Abloh in November 2021, fueling the industry rumor mill. Observers have speculated that Vuitton could tap an emerging designer, with names including Martine Rose, Grace Wales Bonner and Samuel Ross said to be under consideration, or someone from outside the world of fashion entirely.
