This week saw the appointment of A-List musician Pharrell Williams as Louis Vuitton’s newest Creative Director of their menswear range. Still, he is far from the first celebrity to be given a respectable title within a well-known company.
Known for his hit singles with pop-duo Daft Punk and his extensive songwriting catalog for high-caliber clients such as Beyoncé and Ariana Grande, Pharrell Williams has had a career change. He is now entering the world of luxury fashion. The 49-year-old singer, songwriter, and producer is adding Creative Director to his impressive list of jobs, joining the Louis Vuitton menswear team as of February 15th.
Pharrell dipped his toe in business, creating the skincare line Humanrace three years ago in 2020. He’s been involved directly with designing apparel before, creating his own clothing brand, Billionaire Boys Club, alongside Japanese fashion designer Nigo in 2003. So maybe hiring him as Creative Director wasn’t as random a move as it may first seem.
Pharrell X Louis Vuitton
Pharrell’s new role was announced on Wednesday, February 15th, sharing that his first collection will be released later this year at Paris Fashion Week in June. We’ve only got four months to wait until we see what he produces for the longstanding French luxury house as their menswear Creative Director, but this won’t be the first time he’s worked with the brand.
Williams first became associated with Louis Vuitton nearly 20 years ago in 2004, when he released a collection as part of his first collaboration with the brand. The success of his first range meant he produced another one in 2008 before joining forces with Louis Vuitton once more as a senior designer within the team. Pharrell is taking on the role following the death of the previous creative Director, Virgil Abloh, in 2021, so it’s safe to assume that the two years between the last CD have been used to select the best man for the job carefully.
Very little has been revealed about what we can expect from the singer in his new role, but the job itself is not as fresh as it may seem. Pharrell currently holds the same position in various other big-name fashion houses, such as working as the Creative Director of streetwear brand KarmaloopTV, a title he’s owned since 2011. His foray into fashion spans from casual clothing to high-end accessories, so we can assume he’ll cover everything he possibly can when the first collection comes out in months.
Celebrity Creative Directors
Pharrell Williams is just one of the many celebs who can include the Creative Director title on their impressive resumes. The likes of Kendall Jenner, Cardi B, and Molly-Mae Hague have all been known to add the position to their already-successful careers, showing that celebrities from all walks of life are capable of getting the role. Lots of people, however, have been sharing their outrage at privileged individuals being offered the title rather than hard-working, ‘normal’ everyday people who don’t already have a platform.
Cast your minds back to the summer of 2021 when Love Island’s Molly-Mae Hague was announced as Creative Director of UK-based fashion retailer PrettyLittleThing. Arguably the best success story to come out of the reality dating series, Molly-Mae was subjected to a heap of online backlash, with lots of social media users stating that she didn’t deserve the role and it should have been given to a non-multimillionaire who worked their way up from the bottom. Despite this, Molly-Mae’s impact on the brand has been undoubtedly triumphant, so is the abuse justified?
It’s easy to understand the frustration – we tend to see celebrities as undeserving of such high ranks, but they have also worked incredibly hard to build their careers. So far, it’s pretty early days for Pharrell’s job to be hit by controversy. However, the initial reaction was a bit of a mixed bag, with praise for his hustle and dismay at Louis Vuitton somewhat tarnishing its name by hiring a celeb in the prestigious position.
All in all, it seems to make sense that the likes of Pharrell and Molly-Mae, who had both worked with their respective brands before climbing the ladder, are the ones to hold the title. Plus, there are still plenty of brands where fashion designers famous for designing fashion are the ones to be Creative Directors. Regardless of your opinion on the topic, brands will hire the best candidate for the job, which, in these cases, happens to be a famous face.
