Louis Vuitton Fall 2024 Wasn't Designed By Pharrell — Can You Tell?
For seemingly the final (really final, this time) menswear collection not designed by newly-crowned artistic director Pharrell Williams, Louis Vuitton's in-house men's design team, Studio Prêt-à-Porter Homme, whipped up a handsome selection of clothing, accessories, and sneakers for Fall 2024. Can you tell the difference between this and the explosive, expansive selection that Pharrell sent down the runway mere weeks ago?
If not, look closer. No surprise that there are some obvious throughlines that carry through between pre- and post-Pharrell Louis Vuitton but there are ample distinctions that separate the two eras.
As far as similarities go, you can cite the patterned Louis Vuitton denim jackets, debossed LV painter jeans, and sporty technical blousons, all anchored by monogram canvas Trunks in high-vis tonal colors.
But there's a world of difference between Pharrell's Louis Vuitton and the pre-Pharrell LV Men's Fall 2024 line. Shall we explore?
For one, you can see that Pharrell's sheer celebrity bombast doesn't inform Louis Vuitton Fall 2024 the way it defines his Summer 2024 collection.
In place of Pharrell's brilliant checkerboard suits and printed leather jackets, for instance, sophisticated aviator-style jackets and corduroy tailoring ingeniously cut to match the Maxi Epi leather Alma bowling bags.
The visual language is unified by classic Louis Vuitton cues — LV-embossed puffers and chunky lace-up boots are a forever men's staple — but Pharrell's Louis Vuitton is more pop, more kitsch, more indulgent.
No crocodile leather bags with matching LV Trainer kicks or inverted Tiffany sunglasses in Louis Vuitton Fall 2024, that's for sure.
Not that the new collection is lacking statement pieces.
Intarsia-woven fil-coupé Louis Vuitton scarves bring the visual intrigue while brushed wool lets the texture do the talking. The artisanal meets the approachable throughout Louis Vuitton Fall 2024 in a way that's ultimately quiet tasteful.
Here, contemporary Louis Vuitton motifs are fleshed out and explored for perhaps the last time, as Pharrell shifts gears to send LV rocketing into the future with or without those classic pieces. Those elbow-length silk shirts, monogrammed and branded shoulder bags, suede chukka boots: don't expect to see those carry over unchanged throughout Pharrell's high-energy LV.
Not that either iteration is lesser in any way, mind you. Just two different sides of the same luxury coin, with plenty of connective tissue to make the transition relatively seamless.
