Source of Life: Looking At Pharrell’s Pont Neuf Debut
Courtesy of LOUIS VUITTON
Courtesy of LOUIS VUITTON
Bringing us closer to the sun, Pharrell’s debut at Pont Neuf ushers in new cultures and basks under love, light, and creativity at Maison Louis Vuitton.
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Courtesy of LOUIS VUITTON1/6The Damouflage
Louis Vuitton’s famous Damier check morphs into a digital checkerboard of pixels that approximate camouflage. At once classic and contemporary, the damouflage melds the box pattern heritage motif with recognizable pop culture cool, which, needless to say, is a Pharrell specialty. Take your pick from tailored suit sets to bomber jackets to intarsia knit cardigans, and even bags, teddy bears, and wellies.
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Courtesy of LOUIS VUITTON2/6Sun Season
Pharrell’s first show for Louis Vuitton focuses on the fundamental: the sun. As much as it keeps planets in a state of dynamic stability, so does it regulate this debut collection in a muted palette of living things: moss greens, brown earths, warm yellows, and surfaces high shined as if the sun kissed it ever so lightly.
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Courtesy of LOUIS VUITTON3/6Home is where the heart is
The newly minted term “LVERS,” is a fresh name for a new culture. According to the show notes, “it is a state of mind founded in warmth, well-being, and welcomeness.” And if you read in between the letters, slotting an O between the letters L and V can spell as “Lovers” as well. You can take it as a cryptic message of hope that we can find room to be kinder, but it also happens to be the slogan of Pharrell’s home state: “Virginia is for lovers.”
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Courtesy of LOUIS VUITTON4/6The circle of life
A key gem across the collection came in the form of clustered pearls. Outlining tracksuits used as handles of Mini Soft Trunks, and sewn into squares as 3D Damier checkerboard boxes. It even goes as far as embellishing bags, socks, and eye apparatuses. It’s a proposal that flips the once grandmotherly associations of the pearl into one that transcends traditional gender divides, with a contemporary wear-anywhere” concept.
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Courtesy of LOUIS VUITTON5/6No speedy limit
One of the many novel propositions in Pharrell’s Louis Vuitton is the adaptation of the classic Speedy bag. In lieu of its signature muted colors, the reimagined outings come in vibrant primary colors: reds, blues, and yellows—magnified to gargantuan proportions and at the same time, shrunken to minuscule variations, all across nine dimensions.
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Courtesy of LOUIS VUITTON6/6For the long run
Look closely and you’ll see the subversive play of Pont Neuf being the oldest bridge in Paris launching the newest creative director of Louis Vuitton. The runway riffs on the Damier check again, with the thread-like line spanning yellow across the suspension. And as part of Louis Vuitton’s ongoing sustainability efforts, the floor covering as well as the show seating will be retrieved and repurposed post- show in collaboration with ARTSTOCK.
