LeBron James is finally a Louis Vuitton star. Well, some of us already knew that Pharrell had tapped the NBA legend to model his debut LV collection as of a few months ago but now it's official: LeBron is a Louis Vuitton man.
James' cover star turn officially debuted on Louis Vuitton's site and socials on January 4, 2023, the day that Pharrell's LV Spring/Summer 2024 collection hit LV's pop-up shops in New York and Los Angeles.
The imagery shows James at his stylistic best, frankly. I'll be the first to posit that LeBron James' personal style is, ehm, passable at best (his wife knows how to dress, though). Not that I blame him: guys who stand six-foot-nine have a hard time finding stuff that fits, I assume. As someone who's a bit shorter, I can't relate.
But dressed in head-to-toe LV, James looks better than ever.
Seriously, only during his days of Thom Browne did James ever look this good, frankly. The way that Pharrell's nipped suits and flowing pajamas flatter his frame is remarkably graceful. It only took until 2024 but here we are: objectively good LeBron outfits!
Notice that James is only clutching a single Speedy bag, however, compared to the rainbow bouquet toted by inaugural Pharrell LV celebrity fan Rihanna. I assume this is to emphasize his debonair wardrobe and, if so, it works.
Still, it hits the mark.
The point of the vivacious red handbag here is to serve as a reminder: this is a Pharrell signature, the singular most important item that Louis Vuitton wants to associate with its creative director.
But LeBron James has also been a pretty core part of Pharrell's Louis Vuitton even since the beginning, way back in June 2023 when he sat front-row at the LV SS24 runway show atop the historic Pont Neuf bridge.
James has been seen toting around Pharrell's LV bags in the interim and might've been one of the lucky VIPs to get their hands on the flagship "Millionaire" bag available exclusively for LV's friends and family.
Those bags, by the way, live up to their name: the Millionaire is a handmade crocodile leather Speedy handbag accented with diamonds. Retail price is, obviously, one million dollars.
As I said earlier, this is not our first look at Louis Vuitton's LeBron James campaign.
Back in October, Highsnobiety became the first publication to capture imagery of LV's James campaign, which was quietly rolled out on a single NYC billboard presumably as a taste of the campaign to come.
It's unusual to preview a fashion campaign months before its actual debut. For reference, it's been so long since the James campaign's billboard debut that it's since been replaced by a different LV ad.
However, it does make plenty of sense that LV would use LeBron James' international appeal to bolster the rollout of Pharrell's first collection. If ever there was a time to cash in on his good name, it'd be now.
