(Paris) Designer Pharrell Williams presented Tuesday evening, at the launch of Paris Men’s Fashion Week, a “Paris Virginia” fashion show, a trip to the American western punctuated by drums and Native American motifs and looks all in cowhide chaps. boy and Texas boots.
This third men’s collection from the star designer of Louis Vuitton wanted to “illuminate the roots of the American western wardrobe”, with a nod to each arm’s length, the emblematic soft travel bag with the Vuitton logo, “the fundamental instinct of the House”, according to it.
The stars, first and foremost the American rapper Playboi Carti, the members of the K-Pop group Riize, but also the American actors Bradley Cooper and French actors Tahar Rahim and Omar Sy, were present in the room, a no-frills cube installed in the foot of the Vuitton Foundation, in the Bois de Boulogne.
After the parade, Pharrell Williams took the microphone again, accompanied by the British group Mumford and Sons and the percussion of traditional Native American singers.
Six months ago, the American singer, who arrived at the artistic helm of the brand in February 2023, made a sensational entry into the world of fashion, with a fashion show already considered legendary for its excess on the Pont-Neuf in Paris .
This time, the proposal, which is reminiscent of the recent film by Martin Scorsese Killers of the Flower Moonrefined the decorum and refocused the show on very homogeneous silhouettes and a strong and readable theme.
Modern cowboy
In terms of silhouettes, for these modern and sensitive cowboys, denim is glazed with pearls and sequins or softened, with floral patterns. The leather pants imitate the embossing of horse saddles and the throws for cold desert nights feature the brand’s traditional checkerboard pattern.
Suede, denim, leather and raw materials arrive patinated, as if aged under the prairie sun of the great American West.
All the markers of the cowboy costume are there, from the fringed jacket to the sheriff’s ascot, including the wide-brimmed hat or the ankle boot.
But the indigenous touch, notably with musicians from Dakota tribes invited on stage, nuanced this version of the American narrative which could be judged as colonial.
The accessory was otherwise omnipresent, with a vast majority of models displaying glasses, worn in the form of two rimless mirrors.
PHOTO ALAIN JOCARD, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
The show ended under an artificial snowfall, which left the public unresponsive, as did the interruption of the after party by an activist from the animal rights association Peta, who was quickly evacuated by security.
Third collection
Pharrell Williams, jack of all trades famous for his hits happy And Get Lucky alongside Daft Punk, was eagerly awaited for this collection, after presenting a pre-collection inspired by Hawaii in Hong Kong.
After the trunk building on the Champs-Élysées, the French luxury group also continues to conquer Parisian public space, despite the protests of certain elected officials, and announces the installation of XXL bags, immense inflatable structures already seen in China, in parallel with Fashion Week.
In addition to this headliner, the big houses will be present, such as Balmain, Valentino, Dior Homme or Givenchy, which will show without its creative director Matthew Williams, who left at 1er January.
Parisian fashion week fall-winter 2024-2025 follows in the footsteps of that of Milan. And it will be structured, with 42 parades and 32 presentations spread over six days, from Tuesday to Sunday.