The Pharrell Williams, Mohari Hospitality and Omnam Investment Group Hotel in Paris
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A Powerhouse Triad Promises a New Grand Dame Hotel in Paris
• The restoration sits on prime Parisian real estate at 202 Rue de Rivioli
• Guests will be across the street from the Tuileries Gardens and close to The Louvre Museum and the Place Vendôme
Pharrell Williams Has a New Hotel Project in Paris
The creative director of Louis Vuitton Men has a new hotel project in Paris, as Pharrell Williams partners with Mohari Hospitality and Omnam Investment Group to completely reimagine the former Saint-James & Albany Hotels, writes Glitz.Paris.
The location is superb, with the project sitting on prime Parisian real estate at 202 Rue de Rivoli, directly across from the Tuileries Gardens and a short walk from The Louvre Museum and the all-important Place Vendôme.
The combined Saint-James, opened in 1864, while the Albany opened on in 1894. The location closed in 2021, awaiting renewal.
The announcement of the partnership originally came in October, 2024 by Mohari Hospitality and Omnam Group [IG]. A month later in November 2024, the group announced its purchase of the Bauer Hotel in Venice, which — based on their own language — does not involve Williams.
The yet unnamed hotel will house about 100 rooms and suites, a small number of private residences as well as restaurants, bars, a spa, and a swimming pool.
‘Firstclassjerk’ Lives Up To His Name
I was annoyed and a bit sad to see ‘firstclassjerk’ come up top of a Google search for more info on the Paris renovation transaction. The lead question “Will Pharrell Williams’ second hotel go better than his first?” is riddled with errors, to the best of our knowledge
Even though Anne of Carversville took our own hatchet to the mythology that Pharrell was a partner in The Goodtime Hotel in Miami, and somehow involved financially in its closure, Gemini AI delivered the false info right back to me last night.
Lauren Sherman’s Misguided Fashion First Vision of Louis Vuitton
In June Puck’s Lauren Sherman wrote a piece on Pharrell, filled with insinuations about Williams that were so egregious that after firing off a blistering email to her, I got out my digital pen and let it rip: Puck Writer Lauren Sherman Stink Bombs for Pharrell Williams Explained & Shredded.
Sherman has an exceedingly narrow view of the Louis Vuitton brand DNA. Her view does not sync at all with the one articulated by Louis Vuitton Chairman and Chief Executive Officer [CEO] Pietro Beccari.
The LV chairman does not put fashion design at the top of Louis Vuitton DNA. Beccari puts cultural relevance and cultural influence at the top of his list. We will pursue this difference in terminology and its consequences in a separate post.
For the Record: Pharrell Williams and the Goodtime Hotel in Miami
From the perspective of Anne of Carversville, the facts about Pharrell Williams and the Goodtime Hotel can be summarized like this:
The creative input, branding development, and aesthetic curation for The Goodtime Hotel took place between 2016 and 2021—culminating in the property's grand opening on April 15, 2021. This entire venture concluded almost two years, before Pharrell was even named Men’s Creative Director at Louis Vuitton in early 2023.
To drag a long-settled, pre-existing branding agreement into a critique of his current anti-LVMH corporate focus is a desperate reach for dirt on Pharrell. Furthermore, legal filings from the hotel’s subsequent foreclosure crisis explicitly show that Pharrell was never a major equity owner or financial guarantor; his name was entirely absent from the debt lawsuits. He provided his creative vision, the marketing wrapped up, and the project ended for Pharrell.
Presumably, with Pharrell living in Miami until moving to Paris with Louis Vuitton Men, he showed up at the Goodtime Hotel on multiple occasions. That does not make him an owner or a person providing strategic advice, as court records confirmed. For social media writers to drag the Goodtime closure into a critique of Pharrell’s hotel partnership in Paris is a basic failure of linear time. It also feels like a deliberate act of aggression against a man I hold in very high regard. Hence, my very annoyed response to baseless attacks, especially launched by gossip columnist Lauren Sherman.
Vanity Fair interviewed Sherman in recent weeks, for a piece called Sherman’s March: How Fashion Learned to Fear a Newsletter and made the gossip column reference. Anne likes that descriptor. AOC was surprised to learn that LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault has banned his executives from talking to the Puck fashion world genius at all. Sherman is the only American fashion writer bearing the brunt of his wrath.
It’s a good idea on Arnault’s part, but his minions have not gotten the message. AOC has written for over a year that LVMH has a significant problem inside the house — unless they are deliberately feeding Sherman false info in hopes of discrediting her. This hypothetical might be possible, now that I know the backstory of Bernard Arnault banning his execs from speaking with her.
Being totally honest and recalling a couple moves on my part at Victoria’s Secret, I would absolutely have people feeding Sherman false information. Puck’s alleged savant could become a stock-price dangerous mouthpiece, without a birddogging squad following her around to validate her claims. ~ Anne
