The world’s richest men, their friends and their frocks

On Tuesday evening, astir 24 hours aft lasting connected the dais astatine Trump’s inauguration, Arnault was checking up connected Pharrell Williams’ Louis Vuitton postulation from the beforehand row. (His seatmates, French hoops prima Victor Wembanyama successful a greenish varsity overgarment and friend-of-the-Obamas Bradley Cooper successful a herringbone coat, surely chopped a antithetic representation than Dana White and Miriam Adelson.)

But to telephone this peculiar amusement Williams’ Louis Vuitton would beryllium misleading. This collection, arsenic per the quality release, listed some Williams and Nigo, a Japanese decorator and laminitis of A Bathing Ape, arsenic its “men’s originative directors.”

The brace person creatively commingled before. In the aboriginal aughts, they worked unneurotic connected Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream, 2 BAPE offshoots that became fable for their comic-book-colored full-zip hoodies and buxom skate shoes.

“Nigo is the glue to my ideas,” Williams said immoderate 20 years agone successful a video interview, lasting adjacent to Nigo astatine the Ice Cream store successful Tokyo.

Of note: Today Nigo is the originative manager of Kenzo, different LVMH property, albeit 1 whose wattage seems to beryllium progressively dim. And so, what Arnault and hundreds of assemblage members saw Tuesday was a objection of an LVMH-sanctioned bromance. (Neither decorator was made disposable for an interview, truthful their originative process for this peculiar postulation remained opaque.)

There was possibly much Nigo successful this look than Pharrell.

A cherry varsity jacket, a rivet-studded trucker and particularly the curve-brimmed level caps — these were quintessential Nigo. A four-pocket chore overgarment successful a vertical conductor’s stripe and immoderate whiskered jeans could easy person wandered retired of Nigo’s archive of American vintage or, for that matter, the Kenzo plan studio.

Nods to Nigo’s Japanese practice were vigorous, arsenic successful a shot jersey with “Vuitton” rendered successful Japanese syllabaries and a camo people formed from cherry-blossom-like splotches. Husky sneakers, similar bowling shoes inflated by a motorcycle pump, could person been a mislaid Ice Cream sketch.

This was the chockablock 400-level conception of the collection: the conception for the Nigo-ologists and their Pharrell-ospher classmates. If you didn’t walk the aboriginal 2000s speechmaking Hypebeast.com oregon brushing up connected videos of Nigo’s covering warehouse (this antheral owned Pee-wee Herman’s suit, folks!), astatine slightest immoderate of it would beryllium mislaid connected you.

As if to assistance the audience, a phalanx of milky achromatic cubes connected the runway turned wide astatine the denouement of the show, revealing a “visual past of Pharrell and Nigo’s journey.” That past included Billionaire Boys Club varsity jackets, the dimpled 10-gallon Vivienne Westwood hats that were erstwhile a Williams signature and Louis Vuitton sacks of each shapes.

Some items volition beryllium disposable astatine auction starting Friday, connected Joopiter, Williams’ auction site. Williams — a designer/music producer/skin-care magnate/hospitality entrepreneur/Lego movie prima — ne'er lets an accidental for firm synergies walk him by.

Of course, Louis Vuitton, astatine its globe-spanning scale, cannot trust solely connected wistful streetwear geeks. And truthful arsenic this postulation marched on, it unspooled to people Vuitton’s can-be-anyone-as-long-as-he’s-rich clientele.

There were walking coats successful English checks, distressed shot caps and straight-up chinos. But besides crystal-kissed pinkish cardigans, a leather hoodie made of serpentine patchwork and kooky Coogi-looking sweaters.

A Louis Vuitton amusement without astatine slightest a baker’s twelve bags would beryllium similar Paris without traffic, and truthful we were presented with cherry-blossom pinkish duffels, coffin-size trunks, puny rectangular pouchettes and grocery-store-style logo totes.

By the end, it was an aimless but agreeable array of stuff, 1 that will, undoubtedly, find its mode to shopper’s closets — and astir likely, for Arnault, that’s a show worthy flying backmost for.