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Pharrell’s debut Louis Vuitton campaign features a pregnant Rihanna
By Barry Pierce | Fashion | 27 June 2023

After shutting down Paris for his blockbuster debut show as Louis Vuitton Men’s creative director, Pharrell Williams has dropped his first campaign and it features no one other than Bad Gal Riri herself. Pregnant and laden with LV’s newest take on the Speedy bag, Rihanna is shot by Keizō Kitajima and Martine Syms and styled by long-time Pharrell collaborators Cynthia Lu and Matthew Henson.

The Speedy bag, an icon of the house since it was created by Gaston-Louis Vuitton in 1930, is rendered in supple grained calf leather and lined in lambskin. The silkscreen-printed Monogram induces a blurry, artisanal and almost hand-painted effect, rendered in several colours across nine dimensions. You’ll have no doubt seen Pharrell carrying a similar bag as he attended basically all the runway shows during Paris Fashion Week. Dedicated!

Everything about the campaign is indicative of where Pharrell seems to be taking the house. The appearance of the pregnant Rihanna in this menswear campaign is a very literal expression of the recontextualisation of the brand that Pharrell has already made central to his tenure. It is also imbued with Pharrell’s own personal history, the Speedy was one of the first bags he owed, and his new take on it is inspired by his own early education in luxury on Canal Street in Lower Manhattan.

Revisit our coverage of the Louis Vuitton SS24 show here.

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