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Pharrell Williams, Creative Director of Louis Vuitton Menswear and Richard Mille fan
News
Pharrell Williams, Creative Director of Louis Vuitton Menswear and Richard Mille fan
“Louis Vuitton is delighted to welcome @Pharrell as its new Men’s Creative Director,” Louis Vuitton tweeted at 2am Singapore time on February 15, 2023.
Today, younger listeners might know Pharrell by his number one hits like Blurred Lines (with Robin Thicke and T.I.), Get Lucky (with Daft Punk), Drop It Like It’s Hot (with Snoop Dogg) and Happy. He is also a judge on the reality TV show The Voice.
Pharrell is no stranger to fashion either. His early ventures include Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream footwear, which he created with A Bathing Ape founder Nigo in 2005. Pharrell’s first partnership with Louis Vuitton was announced in 2008 when he co-designed eyewear and jewelry for the maison.
2020, Nigo partnered with Luxury brand Louis Vuitton alongside Virgil Abloh to create a capsule collection. The Teriyaki Boyz member released a solo full-length album named I Know Nigo! in 2022, which featured A$AP Rocky, A$AP Ferg, Gunna, Lil Uzi Vert, Tyler the Creator and Pop Smoke (R.I.P.).
Over the years, Pharrell has collaborated with the who’s who of fashion brands like Adidas, Chanel, Marc Jacobs, Moncler and Tiffany & Co.
Today, the baby-faced Pharrell (who turns 50 this April) too has reached the height of his fashion and musical career. In 2017, he held a Louis XIII cognac-sponsored listening party for only 100 people, then buried that record in the ground. In a bid to raise awareness for climate change, this record will only be dug up in 2117, and will be unlistenable or even have disintegrated depending on the state of pollution.
Pharrell’s dazzling watch collection
In 2019, Richard Mille debuted the 30-piece limited edition RM 52-05 Tourbillon Pharrell Williams that was priced at USD 969,000. Inspired by Pharrell’s memory of the Mariner 9 spacecraft that went on a mission to explore Mars in the early 70s, this watch was designed in collaboration with Pharrell, a Richard Mille diehard.
Both Nigo and Pharrell have previously been spotted wearing the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept Carbon, which is a tourbillon watch with linear chronograph minute counter, function selection indicator and power-reserve indicator. Pharrell has also been seen wearing Jacob & Co. watches like the Jacob & Co. Rainbow Tourbillon and the Jacob & Co. Five Time Zone watch, which brand founder Jacob Arabo launched in 2001 and became the choice bling of celebrities in New York City in the early noughties.
Big shoes to fill
Pharrell has, for three decades, reigned as the King Midas of cool. Today, Pharrell joins one of the most sought-after brands in the world, succeeding the inimitable Virgil Abloh who passed away in November 2021. Louis Vuitton has strengthened and legitimized its watchmaking capabilities when it acquired La Fabrique du Temps in 2012, which culminated in Louis Vuitton winning the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève Audacity Prize for its Tambour Carpe Diem and the Diver’s Watch Prize for its Tambour Street Diver in 2021.
Williams’ first Louis Vuitton collection will be shown in June during Men’s Fashion Week in Paris.