Louis Vuitton Mens Hip Elegance: A Smart Critic Asks "Can Good Taste Change the World?" AOC Fashion

Anne of Carversville is waiting as well-lit images of the Pharrell Williams Louis Vuitton Men’s show in Paris emerge. Dark images that don’t convey the luxury of the collection are not permitted. We don’t need to be first; we just need to be intuitively really good in our analysis.

Power shifts are happening and not everybody has gotten the message. Clearly, significant numbers of people are not pleased with these new dynamics.

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.

LVMH, Louis Vuitton and Pharrell Williams — plus their biggest assemblage of talents ever to attend a fashion show, according to reports — coupled with a few of us fashion folks — are all speaking the same language.

Louis Vuitton is in complete charge of their €20B in 2022 brand. They are humble — unlike lesser humans in their orbit.

As Pharrell constantly says, “It’s not about me.” Other people need to learn from his humility.

I think of him as the enormously talented and visionary conductor of a world-reknowned orchestra. He expresses his spirituality without telling us he is God.

What’s the Buzz?

Luke Leitch @ Vogue [HE totally “gets it”] link

The most powerful love bombs of all were the accessories. Bags are what makes Vuitton’s world rotate and this collection was spun with many, many eye-catching variations: zingily colored Keepalls and Almas and Neverfulls and Speedys, worn in clusters, heaped deliciously . . .

And a final statement from Luke Leitch, who stabilized me when I was ready to throw darts at fashion people, the day of the Pharrell announcement:

What Williams took possession of with total assurance tonight was a position that many thought, for many reasons, he was either too much or not enough for. They were wrong. He delivered joy unconfined.

Rachel Tashjian @ Washington Post link

WaPo’s Rachel Tashijan articulates thoughts that I share, writing that the interchangeability of fashion and popular culture hit new highs Tuesday night in Paris.

“The celebrity is no longer the person reflecting a culture’s values but creating them.”

Tashijan also stressed just how well Williams understands fashion commerce . . . recognizing that “his garments and bags are all products.”

Then she got into Anne territory. . . yeah!

. . . it occurred to me that Williams is suggesting that the Louis Vuitton logo is a symbol of civility and gentleness. To wear it, to clad yourself in Williams’s exquisite taste, is to mark yourself as a member of a club committed to graciousness.

This is precisely why I’ve been researching the 1930s global cafe society that rose in Paris, spreading to London and New York. On my study list is also the well-known fact that many people of color wanted to stay on in Paris after WWII and why.

That Liberty luggage truck rolling around the Louis Vuitton Men’s show was no small detail. AOC doesn’t give a twit about buttons vs safety pins on jackets. We care about Tashijan’s review wrap up:

The question is not whether Williams can design clothes or make covetable products. He knows better than anyone in the world what to buy and why you should buy it.
Instead, the question is whether Williams can convince the world that a corporate symbol really can mean all that he says it does. Can good taste change the world?

"It was a risk," said CEO Pietro Beccari, whom we met before the show. "After Virgil [Abloh], I couldn't have chosen a traditional designer. I needed someone with something extra, a creative who touches people's hearts, through music, collaborations." For several months now in the fashion world, criticism has been rife: Would a music producer know how to come up with a viable clothing collection?

Louis Vuitton has been on an epic financial roll in the last five years. Yes, we all agree that women’s drives more revenue than mens. But I see many women buying those new bags and accessories.

And the HEART that Pharrell brings to LV has no financial price and easily transfers to women’s. Who knows, they may do some projects together.

WaPo’s Rachel Tashijan correctly identified the mission at hand. The world is in a precarious place and if you asked me, who do I believe can have the greatest positive impact right now in creating a more stable, non-autocratic global order, my answer is LVMH.

I’ve taken this position for several years. LVMH is committed to telling the stories of our humanity and our history, including our ancient history at Belmond Hotel Properties. ~ Anne