Pharrell’s Latest Louis Vuitton Show Was a Wes Anderson-ian Ode to India

In his tenure as creative director of Louis Vuitton Men’s, Pharrell Williams seems to work within an extremely broad radius. He speaks of mankind in relation to solar systems. With a “We Are the World”-esque presentation last summer, he transitioned from his study of American westernwear into a globetrotting project that has since made stops in Japan, via last season’s collaboration with his longtime friend and mentor Nigo, and now, India. But for the time being (or at least until he’s figured out how to stage a fashion show on Jupiter), P is still basing his collections earthside.

Back in March, Williams and the LV design team spent seven days visiting three different Indian cities—Delhi, Mumbai, and Jaipur—where they connected with the house’s longtime textile and embroidering factory partners, visited architect Bijoy Jain of Studio Mumbai, and basked in, as a press release phrased it, “present-day Indian sartorialism.” Pharrell first visited the country in 2018; during this trip, as one lead designer told me ahead of the show, they observed “not what India is,” but rather “many different Indias, depending on which city you are.” The trip—as well as the fictional, romanticized journey through India depicted in the 2007 Wes Anderson film The Darjeeling Limited—inspired his latest collection, hued in coffee brown, violet, turmeric, terracotta, and earthy chartreuse, which featured loose suiting fit for balmy weather. Like, say, late June in Paris.

The sun was still golden around 9 o’clock on Tuesday evening in the plaza behind the hulking, high-tech Centre Pompidou, where Pharrell and the LV team had constructed a set that felt like a small amphitheater, whose floor was modeled after snakes and ladders, the ancient Indian boardgame predicated upon the eternal dynamic between prosperity and luck. (The occupants of the surrounding apartments, who looked on from their open windows, had an unexpectedly decent view of the whole spectacle.) As models finished getting ready inside the museum, celebrity guests mingled inside the walled set: Spike Lee, holding court in the front row in a red letterman jacket and LV-monogrammed bucket hat, broke from his seat to embrace Steve Harvey. At least a few people took turns posing for photos while perched on 7-foot-4 Spurs power forward Victor Wembanyama’s lap.

Outside, arriving celebrities posed for photos in front of a giant, LV-emblazoned dice, much to the delight of those situated in designated “fan zones,” who reserved their loudest shrieks for K-pop idols like J-Hope (of the newly reunited BTS) and Jackson Wang. But it was the final round of screams for the honorifically last-to-arrive Jay-Z and Beyoncé—who was also joined by her nephew, Julez Smith—that signalled, at 9:30, the show could finally start.