Back in June, Paris’ Pont Neuf – a veritable landmark in a city chock full of them – played host to what went down in fashion history as one of the most bombastic spectacles the industry had ever seen. With the typically thrumming thoroughfare shut down, the din of cars and moped horns was supplanted by the flashes and clicks of cameras, clambering to capture a roster of A*-listers that read like someone had dreamt it up – Rihanna, LeBron James, Beyoncé, Jay-Z… the list, almost unbelievably, really did go on. The occasion? Pharrell Williams’ debut show for Louis Vuitton, no less – the ascension of one of the world’s most prolific cultural figures to the helm of the world’s largest, most powerful fashion house.
As we said back then, what was at stake here was less the clothes that paraded down the thoroughfare-turned-runway, but rather the sense of power that the very occasion was a stark gesture of; a reminder of the gravity that both Pharrell, the French house, and its parent company LVMH wield, and their collective ability to turn the tides of fashion and culture at large with a single act – in this case, towards an era in which spectacle is the most valuable currency.
What went down in Hong Kong on 30 December was a vindication of that. With one of the world’s most famous skylines as his backdrop, Pharrell took to the literal Avenue of Stars – the promenade that fringes the north shore of Victoria Harbour, punctuated by the handprints of the biggest names in the city’s entertainment industry – to stage his (and Louis Vuitton’s!) first men’s pre-fall show. Fitting, given the bevvy of stars that turned up for the occasion – as attested by the good number of rented boats that bobbed on the waters just beyond the venue, filled with chanting stans armed with glowing signs declaring their adulation for Stray Kids’ Felix and Chinese actor Dylan Wang.
But before we get onto the show itself – why Hong Kong? After all, while it’s well known for its shopping, it isn’t exactly a style capital in the manner of, say, Tokyo, Seoul or Shanghai – which is in part why there hasn’t ever been a major fashion show here. “I chose this place because we could go anywhere we wanted in the world, and this is where we wanted to be,” Pharrell said pre-show, going on to note the historic significance that the city – and the wider region – has played in his career. “My Asian siblings have always been incredibly supportive, championing me along the way through ups, downs, lefts, rights. I owe so much of my career to so many people here […] This side of the earth has just always been so good to us. I wanted them to know that, with this appointment, nothing would change.”
Granted, there’s a big business motivation, too. As anyone who’s read up on their fashion business news of late will tell you, the Asian spending power that funnelled through Western shopping hubs like London, Paris and Milan pre-pandemic has yet to return to quite the same degree. While globetrotting is again possible with the end of pandemic-era restrictions, travel numbers remain down. Domestic spending figures, however, are up, with the Greater China region in particular reporting an uptick in splurging that megabrands like Louis Vuitton are eager to cater to. “The whole region is in this slingshot that’s about to get let go and get into this energetic flow…” Pharrell said, “I’m just incredibly honoured to be here, the timing just couldn’t be better. You can feel it in there — business is on the rise in everything from fashion to finance. It’s on an up right now.”
Put plainly, Hong Kong right now is a big vibe, and there’s little better way to affirm that than by staging a show that places Louis Vuitton right at its heart. Walking into the venue – which saw the typically bustling shorefront transformed into a palm-fringed, sandy beach, backlit by the neon blare of Hong Kong’s world-famous wall of skyscrapers – it was impossible not to swoon. It wasn’t just a scenic backdrop, though – rather, the collection directly responded to its presentational context. “It’s from Hawaii to Hong Kong,” Pharrell explained. “It’s basically about a businessman from Hong Kong who takes a vacation to Hawaii, is there for maybe a week or two, but has a business meeting he has to get back to in Hong Kong for just a day — a day in, a day out, and then back on his vacation.”
City slicker suiting – the sort you see plenty of walking about Central or taking the MTR – was shed of its stuffiness. Opening looks comprised a peak lapel suit in shimmering white LV monogrammed jacquard and a double-breasted suit in black cut in relaxed proportions – the latter so significantly relaxed that the trouser legs ballooned, conjuring simultaneous senses of properness and ease. It was a tension that gave much of the collection its impetus, from the dry charcoal wool suits that came with shorts rather than the expected trouser, through to the more outré two-pieces rendered in prints redolent of hibiscus-strewn Hawaiian shirts – a motif carried over onto Vuitton’s emblematic briefcase-sized mini trunks.
This being a Louis Vuitton show, the theme of travel naturally prevailed. In keeping with the beachy theme, the sailor became the protagonist of the show’s metaphorical voyage, as was immediately apparent from the double-breasted pea coats with glinting hardware fixtures and dixie cup hats worn throughout. Elsewhere, naval motifs intuitively slid into the lineup by way of poplin shirts, denim jackets and even letterman jackets fitted with sailor collars, as well as floor-swishing flares that read a little of Querelle, the eponymous swashbuckling antihero of Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s queer epic.
As with his debut show, eclecticism – creating a little bit of something for everyone – felt like a key mission objective. That said, it should be noted that the overall vision on show here felt a little more cohesive – and, arguably, convincing. It amounted to what Pharrell described as “a very specific focus on the dandy”, that archetypal figure of modernity that French poet Charles Baudelaire once described as “that being, [who] has no other status, but that of cultivating the idea of beauty in their own persons, of satisfying their passions, of feeling and thinking”. Indeed, Baudelaire’s dandy was someone who sought to shape the world through their enriched perspective; a perennial flâneur in constant pursuit of bolder, more beautiful horizons.
It’s a mission that feels analogous to Pharrell’s: rather than attempt to slot his work into the world as it is, he envisages a world and creates it through his work. “That’s what we do — we build dreams, we make dreams, and we produce them,” as he himself put it. And witnessing the show finale, which saw a swarm of glowing drones light the night sky above Victoria Harbour with a titanic LV logo, you really did have to pinch yourself. “The easiest and hardest job that I have,” Pharrell said, “is not to wake up.”
