Pharrell Williams has been designated the Men’s Head Designer at Louis Vuitton as the successor to the late Virgil Abloh who died of cancer in 2021 at the age of 41.
On Tuesday (February 14), the French fashion giant made the hiring official by announcing that Skateboard P’s debut Louis Vuitton collection will be unveiled in June at Paris Men’s Fashion Week.
Virgil Abloh, the former artistic director of menswear for Louis Vuitton, passed away on November 28, 2021, after a personal, two-year struggle with the uncommon and aggressive malignancy cardiac angiosarcoma.
LVMH did not take over Abloh’s historic position after his terrible death; he assumed it in 2018. At a prestigious French fashion house, he was the first Black person to hold the position of artistic director.
The announcement which was shared by the verified page of Louis Vuitton on IG reads in full;
“Louis Vuitton is delighted to welcome Pharrell Williams as its new Men’s Creative Director. His first collection for Louis Vuitton will be revealed next June during Men’s Fashion Week in Paris.
Pharrell Williams is a visionary whose creative universes expand from music to art, and fashion, establishing himself as a cultural global icon over the past twenty years.
The way in which he breaks boundaries across the various worlds he explores aligns with Louis Vuitton’s status as a Cultural Maison, reinforcing its values of innovation, pioneer spirit, and entrepreneurship.
“I am glad to welcome Pharrell back home, after our collaborations in 2004 and 2008 for Louis Vuitton, as our new Men’s Creative Director. His creative vision beyond fashion will undoubtedly lead Louis Vuitton towards a new and very exciting chapter.” – Pietro Beccari, Louis Vuitton’s Chairman and CEO.”
In 2018, Abloh became the first Black artistic director of men’s wear at Louis Vuitton in the French design house’s storied history. A first generation Ghanaian American whose seamstress mother taught him to sew, Abloh had no formal fashion training but had a degree in engineering and a master’s in architecture.
Abloh, who grew up in Rockford, Illinois, outside of Chicago, was often referred to as a Renaissance man in the fashion world. He moonlighted as a DJ. But in a short time, he emerged as one of fashion’s most heralded designers. Abloh called himself “a maker.” He was named one of Time magazine’s most influential people in 2018.
In 2009, Abloh met Kanye West — now called Ye — while he was working at a screen-printing store. After he and Ye interned together at the LVMH brand Fendi, Abloh was Ye’s creative director. Abloh was art director for the 2011 Ye-Jay-Z album “Watch the Throne,” for which Abloh was nominated for a Grammy.
