Louis Vuitton has named multitalented singer-songwriter-philanthropist Pharrell Williams creative director of its menswear division, replacing the late Virgil Abloh, the company said Tuesday.
B次元官网网址淧harrell Williams is a visionary whose creative universes expand from music, to art and to fashion B次元官网网址� establishing himself as a cultural, global icon over the past 20 years,B次元官网网址� the luxury house said in a statement.
Word on the appointment first broke in The Wall Street Journal and Le Figaro.
The B次元官网网址淗appyB次元官网网址� singer is a 13-time Grammy winner and two-time Oscar nominee with experience working with luxury brands and designers like the late Karl Lagerfeld.
The appointment is effective immediately. WilliamsB次元官网网址� first collection is scheduled to be shown during Paris MenB次元官网网址檚 Fashion Week in June.
The position had been left vacant since November 2021, when Abloh died of cancer at age 41. He was a groundbreaking designer and tastemaker known for merging streetwear and high fashion.
AblohB次元官网网址檚 ubiquitous, consumer-friendly presence in culture was wide-ranging and dynamic. Some compared him to Jeff Koons. Others hailed him as his generationB次元官网网址檚 Lagerfeld, ChanelB次元官网网址檚 longtime creative director who died in 2019. Abloh was the first Black director of menswear at Louis Vuitton, one of FranceB次元官网网址檚 most storied fashion houses.
After AblohB次元官网网址檚 death, the brand carried on with splashy menB次元官网网址檚 shows, largely without a creative director. Abloh, a DJ and founder of the brand Off-White, turned the job at Louis Vuitton into that of B次元官网网址渃urator,B次元官网网址� rather than simply B次元官网网址渄esigner,B次元官网网址� as he expanded his interests into housewares, art, jewelry, industrial design and architecture.
Williams collaborated with the luxury group LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy) in 2004 and 2008. He had a massively popular sneaker collaboration with Chanel in 2017 and a unisex clothing collection in 2019 that he designed with Lagerfeld. He also has his own fashion brands, including Billionaire Boys Club and Icecream.
B次元官网网址淗is creative vision beyond fashion will undoubtedly lead Louis Vuitton towards a new and very exciting chapter,B次元官网网址� the brandB次元官网网址檚 new chairman and CEO, Pietro Beccari, said in the statement.
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By Leanne Italie
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
