Pharrell felt “blindsided” when he was chosen as Louis Vuitton’s creative director of menswear.
Pharrell felt ‘blindsided’ when he was chosen as Louis Vuitton’s creative director of menswear
The rapper, 50, who debuted his first collection for the fashion giant on Tuesday (20.06.23) by turning Paris’ oldest bridge the Pont Neuf into a catwalk, was told he was getting the job by Louis Vuitton CEO Pietro Beccari while sitting in his Miami studio in late 2022.
He admitted in an interview with GQ: “I never thought that it would be me. It was – and it’s still – unreal.
“I didn’t know (my previous work) was leading to this though. I would’ve worked harder.”
Since taking the job, Pharrell – born Pharrell Lanscilo Williams – has been working out of a studio in the LV headquarters across the street from the Pont Neuf in Paris’ 2nd arrondissement.
He added about being given carte blanche at the fashion house to produce whatever work he wanted: “They just gave me the keys.
“You never really hear, ‘No.’ And if it’s ‘no’ it’s because something is not possible.
“But then they’re off in the distance trying to figure out how to engineer around it, or make something bigger.”
He insisted about not letting nerves stop him from taking the job: “Hesitation and nerves are not a thing for me in this part of my life.
“It's like not knowing that you were hungry.
“Would you hesitate to eat when the greatest meal that has ever been given to you ever is placed before you?
“You didn’t even know you were hungry because you were complacent and thankful. Would you hesitate to eat?”
Pharrell wanted five categories to make up his first collection – tailoring, comfort, resort, sport, and a core collection of perennial basics.
He also created a hero accessory around which he could build campaigns and drive sales – a new ‘It Bag’.
Pharrell ended up using the iconic LV Speedy bag in primary colours, saying: “I did what they can’t do. Use real, next-level, buttery, buttery crushed leather.”