Louis Vuitton invited Pharrell Williams to serve as the creative director of the men’s series, starting with the 2024 spring and summer collection. Although most media outlets gave high praise to his debut, even GQ Britain commented that “it’s easy to forget that Pharrell is still a newcomer. Unless there is another Louis Vuitton in the solar system.”(Hine, 2024) But my friend Emma told me that many French people cannot accept this. In order to study the problems behind this, I discussed it with my two French friends (Emma and Chris).

Before the discussion, I watched fashion blogger Loic Prigent’s opinion on the show and his video of interviewing models backstage.

When Emma shared with me, she said that Louis Vuitton, as an authentic and time-honored French brand, is now becoming more and more “Americanized” under the leadership of American designer Pharrell. So many French people cannot accept this. Louis Vuitton can upgrade its design and carry out cultural cooperation. The brand has also cooperated with many artists from various countries many times before, but after he joined Louis Vuitton, the brand’s core is increasingly lacking.

Another French friend of mine, Chris, said that if Pharrell had seriously explored American culture and displayed American culture before making this collection, he would be acceptable. Because as a fashion brand, it needs diversity to integrate with it. Of course, the exploration mentioned is to find more locals to discuss with it and invite them to participate in the creation.

This Louis Vuitton show is the rodeo-ready autumn/winter 2024 collection released at Paris Fashion Week in January 2024. The word throughout the show is “Cowboys” (Joseph, 2024), which refers specifically to ranch workers in the western United States, who traditionally work on horses and often do many other ranch-related jobs. Although this show is in a sense to help some groups speak out, if it is only from the visual and production point of view, I would like to describe this show as perfect! But if you seriously explore its culture and background, I don’t think this is a qualified theme.

I read a lot of comments under videos and articles, and most people appreciated this show because the brand brought diversified designs (like western cowboy boots, western cowboy hats, etc.). But as a French veteran high-end luxury brand, shouldn’t it show more of the essence of French culture? Just because Pharrell is an American rapper, does Louis Vuitton need to cater to the American street style? Of course, I am not saying that the American street style is bad, but this is about cultural appreciation, it can not be done like this!!!

I mentioned in my previous project that LOEWE spent a long time studying Chinese elements and cooperating with many Chinese cultural inheritors or famous artists. The result was loved by people all over the world because Jonathan Anderson, as the designer of LOEWE, truly designed from the perspective of cultural exchange and diversity. But I think that Louis Vuitton’s “Go West, Young Man, Go West” style fashion show lacked an expanded understanding of culture? After watching this show, my first reaction was: This is not a French brand, but an authentic American luxury brand.

So, isn’t this also about cultural appreciation?