On the first day of men's fashion week, the show, a stone's throw from the luxury house's headquarters, stood out for its spectacular location.

The models, with very diverse physique, paraded on a huge golden carpet unrolled along the oldest bridge in Paris, on the notes of a gospel choir and an orchestra led by the star pianist Lang Lang.

Models walk the runway for Pharrell Williams' first show for Louis Vuitton, in Paris on June 20, 2023 © JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP

The choice of gold, although not very present in the outfits, is "a nod to the sun, central point of the collection," says Louis Vuitton.

Among the silhouettes presented, it is a chic military aesthetic that emerged, like the camouflage suit close to the body worn by the designer, his partner and their four children.

The shoes are imposing, the suits closer to the body than in the past, the checkerboard, the brand's reference motif, is omnipresent, especially on the bags worn by the models and exhibited on carts, recalling that Vuitton is first and foremost a leather goods workshop.

The fashion show of American designer Pharrell Williams for Louis Vuitton, in Paris on June 20, 2023 © JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP

Guest stars, who also included basketball player LeBron James, Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton, actor Omar Sy and footballer Paul Pogba, made their entrance on a golden carpet, to the sound of the accordion.

In a rare move, Pharrell Williams gave the media time before the show. "There are a lot of people who lost their lives" before black culture found its way into the fashion world, he told AFP.

"We wish our culture and our community didn't have to suffer so much for us to be where we are," added the author of the global hit "Happy", appointed earlier this year to succeed another African-American designer, Virgil Abloh, who died suddenly at the end of 2021.

"We can expect a commercial success, it is one of the most anticipated collections of Fashion Week and it is really a very significant moment for the history of fashion," Alexandre Samson, head of the haute couture and contemporary creation departments of the Palais Galliera, the Parisian fashion museum, told AFP.

DJ, singer, songwriter, producer who collaborates with both artist Takashi Murakami and rapper Jay-Z, Pharrell Williams, 50, is an "iconic" profile for Vuitton. He has an extremely popular approach to art and style," adds Alexandre Samson.

© 2023 AFP