Pharrell Williams is Louis Vuitton's next menswear designer

The rapper and music producer will succeed Virgil Abloh and "lead Louis Vuitton into a very exciting new chapter," the brand said in a statement.< / p>

The fashion and entertainment industries, which have long been linked, converged even further on Tuesday when Louis Vuitton named Pharrell Williams, the American rapper and producer, as its new creative director for men's wear.

The French luxury brand announced on Instagram that it had hired Mr. Williams around 16 months after the sudden death of its former menswear designer Virgil Abloh, in 2021 Mr. Williams, said the brand in a statement, "is a visionary whose creative worlds span from music to art and fashion - establishing himself as a global cultural icon."

Other names fl otant successors to Mr Abloh have included British designers Grace Wales Bonner and d Martine Rose, as well as American designers Telfar Clemens and Colm Dillane, better known as KidSuper, which was announced last month as the first-ever guest designer of menswear from Louis Vuitton, a sign many took to say he had been asked to follow Mr. Abloh.

But it is ultimately Mr Williams, 49, who landed what is considered one of menswear's most high-profile creative director roles. His appointment was the first major move by new Louis Vuitton CEO Pietro Beccari, who joined the brand from Dior last month.

Mr. Williams, who was Chanel's first male ambassador, has worked on and off with Louis Vuitton since 2004. More recently, he entered into a collaboration with jeweler Tiffany & Company, which along with Louis Vuitton is part of the luxury goods conglomerate Louis Vuitton. Moët Hennessy. At the January menswear shows in Paris, Mr Williams was rarely without his pair of diamond-studded Tiffany & Company sunglasses, which he also wore to the Grammys. His first collection for Louis Vuitton will be presented in June during Men's Fashion Week in Paris.

"I am delighted to welcome Pharrell to our home, after our collaborations in 2004 and 2008 for Louis Vuitton, as our new Male Creative Director," Mr. Beccari said in the brand's Instagram release. "His creative vision beyond fashion will undoubtedly lead Louis Vuitton to a new chapter. very exciting."

Mr. Williams' return to Louis Vuitton is also a return to menswear design. of influential streetwear like Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream in partnership with Japanese designer Nigo (who is now the artistic director of Kenzo, which is also owned by LVMH). , Mr. Williams' appointment to the pinnacle of high-end ready-to-wear highlights an apparent trend among luxury goods manufacturers to put their future in the hands of multi-hyphenated celebrities, not professional designers. Other high-profile performers who have been embraced by luxury fashion in recent years include Rihanna, whose clothing line Fenty in partnership with LVMH closed in 2021, and troubled rapper Ye, formerly Kanye West, which has become a staple of fashion weeks around the world.

The spectacle is now on the catwalks: the recent Louis Vuitton men's event in Paris, for example, ...