America’s Black Cowboys, As Tributed by Pharrell Williams for Louis Vuitton Fall-Winter 2024 Men’s Collection: Pt 1 of a French-American Cowboys Story
/
Louis Vuitton Men SS 2024 by Pharrell Williams Hong Kong Pop-Up Joins Upcoming 50 Locations
/
Chinese New Year arrives mid-February, resulting in the Louis Vuitton Men Pop-Up in Hong Kong being open only until February 15. Might we see an extension later in spring?
Read MoreLouis Vuitton SS-2024 Lookbook Lensed by Amit Israeli and Gabriel Moses
/
The Louis Vuitton machine is in high gear for the release of the first Pharrell Williams Louis Vuitton Men collection and these new lookbook images lensed by Amit Israeli [IG] and AOC tag and also Gabriel Moses [IG]
Models include Awwal Adeoti, Dara Gueye, Ridzman Zidaine, Teo Abihdana and Thatcher Thornton styled by Matthew Henson. / Hair by Christian Eberhard; makeup by Christine Corbel
Creative Direction for the shoot is credited to Pharrell Williams [IG] and Lina Kutsovskaya [IG].
Read MoreLouis Vuitton Taps Pharrell Williams As First Guest of Podcast 'Louis Vuitton Extended' Out Now
/
Louis Vuitton is launching a podcast with popular French fashion journalist, documentary maker and YouTuber Loïc Prigent. Called ‘Louis Vuitton Extended’, the podcast will dive deeper into the scenes of what’s happening behind the scenes at one of the world’s premier luxury houses. That Prigent-guided conversation includes the house’s cultural codes, values and activism.
In the case of Louis Vuitton Men’s creative director Pharrell Williams, the dialogue will focus on the June 20, 2023 show and all the decisions made around its structure and content.
Read MoreLouis Vuitton Mens FW 2023 Campaign Images | White Americans in Paris 1923
/
Louis Vuitton Men’s has released images from the FW 2023 collection, co-created by Colm Dillane [IG], aka Kid Super, and the Louis Vuitton Men’s studio design team.
Marq Rise styled the shoot with images by Paul Kooiker [IG].
Preparing to write these words, I scrolled my Apple News for any event connected to this post.
The Universe Dials In
You may or may not have read my recent post about American jazz musicians seeking refuge in the French Riviera — and not only to perform.
Apple News just shared one of those “on this day 100 years ago” articles from yesterday — as if it fell into this post. The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued this statement on August 2, 1923:
“Some foreign tourists, forgetting that they are our guests and that they, therefore, owe respect to our customs and our laws, have lately, on several occasions, violently shown their disapproval when they have found men of colour from French colonies sitting near them in public places. They have even gone so far as to demand their expulsion in insulting terms. If similar incidents recur measures of redress will be taken.”
The Racists in Paris Were White American Tourists
The foreign tourists not respecting French customs and laws were Americans. Follow the link at top of post to the entire story of the ugly [and presumably rich] Americans in Paris.
Read MoreRihanna Fronts New Louis Vuitton Speedy Bag Campaign in Canal Street Colors
/
The Louis Vuitton Speedy bag is an iconic fashion statement that has withstood the test of time. Introduced in the 1930s, this elegant and practical handbag has become a symbol of luxury, sophistication, and timeless style.
Rihanna Fronts New LV Speedy Bag Campaign
In June 2023, fashion world adds Rihanna to the list of famous women who love a Louis Vuitton Speedy bag. Rihanna is an insider at LVMH, besides being a good friend of Pharrell Williams, the new creative director of Louis Vuitton Men who had a blowout opening night in Paris last week.
Shot by Japanese photographer Keizō Kitajima and American artist Martine Syms shot the campaign images in which, Rihanna hustles around the city with her Speedys, a modern woman with a to-go coffee in hand and her pregnant belly bared.
To mimic the candy-colored designer dupes he used to find on Canal Street sidewalks, Pharrell employed a novel silkscreen monogramming process to induce “a blurry, artisanal and almost hand-painted effect” on the new Louis Vuitton Speedy bag colors — which also coincide with the Olympic rings colors.
After a raid on the Paris 2024 Olympics offices before Pharrell’s debut, the hoped for LVMH sponsorship remains unannounced.
Read MoreLouis Vuitton Mens Hip Elegance: A Smart Critic Asks "Can Good Taste Change the World?"
/
Power shifts are happening and not everybody has gotten the message. Clearly, significant numbers of people are not pleased with these new dynamics that are now obvious after the Pharrell Williams Louis Vuitton Men’s show on April 20.
That’s a shame, because the minute models hit the most spectacular runway in Paris — on the Pont Neuf overlooking the Seine — my immediate response was about the elegant tailoring and then the accessories.
The ‘Liberty’ luggage truck also told me that EVERY detail was in order around this epic Pharrell Williams blast-off.
It was only on Monday Juneteenth, that I learned about the Statue of Liberty as a gift to America from France, honoring the official end of slavery in America.
This new day Paris Cafe Society is just getting started, but it is real.
Read MorePharrell Taps Rihanna for LV Mens | LVMH Close to Securing Major 2024 Olympics Deal
/
The show marking Pharrell Williams' first collection for Louis Vuitton Mens, will take place in the City of Lights on June 20, 2023, at 8:30 p.m. Louis Vuitton execs used their considerable influence to change Pharrell’s debut date
On the subject of those delicious bag colors, read on about LVMH sponsoring the 2024 Olympics in Paris, promoting Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior and LVMH spirits.
In fact, it wouldn’t surprise AOC to see LVMH promoting their jointly-owned [50-50] with Jay-Z, Armand de Brignac champagne brand at the Olympics.
That would be one hell of a party! Alas, it won’t be a public event, but Mory Sacko will be in the kitchen. LVMH really wants to step out in the Olympics and they could pull this off in a big way.
Read MoreHumanrace Samba Colors by Pharrell Debuts at VB 'Something in the Water' Festival
/
AOC shares exciting news about the ongoing collaboration between Pharrell Williams and adidas — Humanrace Samba Colors by Pharrell, a collection of luxury footwear in a depth of colorways that embody the diversity and energy of Humanrace’s DNA.
Last weekend at Pharrell’s ‘Something in the Water’ Festival in Virginia Beach, music lovers with an Atlantic Ocean view got their first look at five new Humanrace Samba colorways: Yellow, Orange, Pink, Lilac, and Red. A Humanrace green colorway is also available exclusively to friends and family of the brand.
Pharrell elevates the Samba with all-around high-end leather upper and leather shoelaces sourced from ECCO Leather, a world leader in innovative and premium leather.
ECCO Leather’s water-saving tanning technology saves 20 liters of water per hide. The result is environmentally more sustainable production but higher color saturation. Humanrace always uses non-toxic vegetable dyes, and AOC assumes that is the case here. Read the Humanrace sustainability pledges.
Read MoreWhat If the Louis Vuitton Men's 'Crochet Leather Overshirt' Came With Its Own DNA Test?
/
Technically-speaking, when Virgil Abloh’s parents came from Ghana and settled in Rockford, Ill. which is close to Chicago, he was conceived in what once was New France in North America.
The design of the Louis Vuitton ‘Crochet Leather Overshirt’ is hardly workwear in the style of the American West . . . or even coal miners in Appalachia. Those pretty crochet Louis Vuitton flowers and emblems would get real dusty damn fast.
To purchase the jacket will cost you $37,000 and it’s made to order, so you must contact your local LV to pursue the conversation.
OMG! What LV could do under Pharrell is to create the patches custom — with plenty of LVs, of course. But after purchasing a DNA test as part of the jacket, the wearer could learn his/her roots. Then a select number of patches could honor those roots.
Read MoreDigging Deeper Into Pharrell Williams' Real Mission at Louis Vuitton Mens
/
A fashion industry earthquake happened this week with the appointment of Pharrell Williams as Creative Director at Louis Vuitton Men’s, replacing his close friend Virgil Abloh who passsed in November 2021. The hip hop mogul, business entrepreneur, social activist with a high-volume voice on racial and gender-justice has drawn major criticism from fashion writers who argue that Pharrell’s lack of a formal design education indicates that all that matters to LVMH is his celebrity status.
I don’t mean to sound sassy, but knowing that Louis Vuitton doubled its volume from $10 billion to $20 billion in the last four years suggests that this executive team knows what it’s doing. I’m a maverick to the core and rarely silent on important topics.
But I do show respect to professionals who have just accomplished unimaginable results in business, results that defy logic. Before accusing them of being money-hungry Las Vegas strippers ready to trash the most valuable brand in the luxury world for a few bucks, I dig deeper.
Read MoreThe Beautiful Pharrell Williams has been Named Louis Vuitton Men’s Creative Director
/
I never praise myself, but I KNEW Pharrell was the perfect human for Louis Vuitton Mens and that LV would see it that way, too.
I’ve asked Louis Vuitton Mens [and Dior — too — both men and women] and Etro this morning to pick up the mantle that few businesses can lead. LVMH is well aware of what I am saying. And they are listening.
This video about Pharrell’s ‘Black Ambition’ organization is only about two years old. Clearly Virgil knew how ill he was, but we see here Virgil and Pharrell really speaking to issues of black success. The convo goes deep into their values as humans.
Felecia Hatcher is very succesful in her own right and she serves as CEO of ‘Black Ambition’.
Read MoreChanel in Dakar!!! Video Embedded | Black Beauty Menswear in Senegal for HTSI
/
Chanel show in Dakar now embedded. Chanel ambassador Pharrell Williams was on the ground in Dakar, spreading his ‘Humanrace’ message.
Fresh off his runway walk in the Dior Menswear show at Pyramid Giza, Egypt, Malick Bodian — cover model for this original How To Spend It November 2022 presentation was PROUDLY in Dakar, Senegal to take part in his home country festivities. Bodi took many images for fashion media.
Senegalese musician NIX shared his thoughts on Chanel coming to Dakar: “We have a culture that is very open to the world, we have been influenced by many things, which I see as a richness, and this generates an overflowing creativity today.”
Read MorePharrell Williams Launches Black Ambition for Black and Latinx Entrepreneurs
/
Pharrell Williams Launches Black Ambition for Black and Latinx Entrepreneurs AOC Eye
Black Ambition, Pharrell Williams’ newest venture dedicated to cultivating Black and Latino entrepreneurs, is the winner of the impact investing category of Fast Company’s 2021 World Changing Ideas Awards.
Williams launched Black Ambition last December 2020, with Louis Vuitton Men’s artistic director and founder of Off White Virgil Abloh is onboard as a member of the Black Ambition advisory team. Black Ambition will act as a non-profit initiative providing a bridge to success for Black and Latinx entrepreneurs who are launching start-ups in tech, design, healthcare, and consumer products.
Humanrace 'Clean' Beauty Skincare Is Pure Pharrell Williams Philosophy
/
Humanrace 'Clean' Beauty Skincare Is Pure Pharrell Williams Philosophy
Pharrell Williams has launched an epic skincare brand at humanrace.com. Not only does the brand name Humanrace dovetail perfectly with the singer/rapper/designer/entrepreneur’s philosophical mindset. But because the two words are typically split in typography, searching for the single word brings up Pharrell Williams’ new venture in Google’s top position. Nice — and I doubt he paid much for it.
Yes, it helps that Humanrace’s November 25 launch covers the current issue of Allure magazine, lensed by Ben Hassett. All the relevant details of Humanrace’s DNA are covered in Brennan Kilbane’s interview Pharrell Dives Into the Beauty Business.
The chief sensations officer of Humancare is perfectly at home Zooming from his Miami kitchen about the super simple, skin-loving essentials developed with his longtime dermatologist, Elena Jones.
Eyeing the New South
It was an impactful, online New York Times ad recruiting artists to Virginia that first attracted me to Virginia Beach. That July 2017 midnight sighting was followed by the August 12, 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville. That memorable weekend left me wondering if a move to Virginia was realistically in my destiny.
My cousin Jo and I spent several November 2017 days in Virginia three months later, and I remained positive about the move — highly impacted by the ‘truths’ about Jefferson that were openly-discussed in our tour at Monticello.
Looking out over a desolate, wintery Civil War battlefield was sobering post-Charlottesville, and I felt more strongly than ever that creating a New South was part of my older and wiser DNA.
I can say with total honesty, though, that news of Pharrell Williams’ 2019 ‘Something in the Water’ festival sealed the deal, removing any further hesitation about moving to Virginia. All systems became GO!
The beauty entrepreneur’s Allure interview with Brennan Kilbane delves into activism in a post George Floyd world.
Adidas Three Stripes Campaign by Pharrell Williams Implores Us | Don't Be Quiet Please
/
adidas Three Stripes Campaign by Pharrell Williams Implores Us | Don't Be Quiet Please AOC Fashion
Pharrell Williams, tennis legend Stan Smith and adidas Tennis want to reinvigorate the world through the power of love and positivity. The Three Stripes (Don't Be) QUIET PLEASE campaign launched Saturday at Frederick Johnson Community Court in Harlem. adidas brought together some of its most talented tennis athletes: Garbiñe Muguruza, Angelique Kerber, Sascha Zverev, Dominic Thiem and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and the local youth to launch its new campaign.
Three Stripes collaborator Pharrell Williams’ is launching his first performance tennis collection, bringing tennis into the modern world -- much as the Williams sisters have done. As a huge Hillary Clinton supporter and 2016 presidential campaigner, Pharrell Williams knows that equality, community, and sportsmanship are core to everything he stands for -- and citizen activism is a must. Three Stripes is a tennis collection that seeks to elicit an emotional connection around our shared humanity through art and design. The premium collection will be available at adidas and Billionaire Boys Club flagships, adidas.com, and select retailers globally August 31st.
Adidas and Pharrell Williams announced a community program including the restoration of a New York City tennis court through a donation to the NYC Parks and children's tennis scholarships in partnership with Court16 and Horizons.
