HAWAII TO HONG KONG / HK is for LVERS
The Louis Vuitton Pre-Fall 2024 Men’s Collection by Pharrell Williams moves with the gravitational force of the moon. The nocturnal counterpart to the sun, the moon is the Earth’s wave-maker and a source of light and guidance across the globe. In his first pre-collection for Louis Vuitton – and the Maison’s first Men’s Pre-Fall show – Pharrell Williams surfs the slipstream of the seafarers who let the moon and the stars guide them to new horizons. Staged in the metropole of Hong Kong SAR, where local tradition melds with multicultural influences, the show illustrates the LVERS philosophy at the heart of the Men’s Creative Director’s practice: an ode to the core values that bind us together across the world, from Hawaii to Hong Kong and everywhere in between.

ENERGY-CONVEYERS / Pre-Fall 2024 Men’s Collection
From Hawaii to Hong Kong, the collection illustrates the connective power of travel through nautical themes. The codes of surfing and tropical floral prints celebrate a wardrobe embraced across continents. Following on from the idea of the conduit that underpinned Pharrell Williams’ debut collection for Louis Vuitton – from VA to Paris – the proposal reflects on the multicultural influences present in familiar wardrobe staples, and their evolution as they travel around the world. Clothes are energy-conveyers: a garment associated with the nature-centric, bohemian lifestyle of surfing has the power to create the energy of the beaches of Hawaii for a wearer in the urban environment of Hong Kong SAR.

THE AVENUE OF STARS / The show
Set under the moonlight and constellations of the night sky, the Louis Vuitton Pre-Fall 2024 Men’s Collection Show unfolds along the Avenue of Stars on Victoria Harbour. Located along the panoramic waterfront of Tsim Sha Tsui, the 440-metre promenade was established in 1982 and reopened in 2004 as a monument to the stars of Hong Kong’s film industry. Victoria Harbour is noted as an epicentre of cultural exchange, and has welcomed seafarers from around the world since the fifteenth century. Being close to the water is a constant theme and grounding force for Pharrell Williams, who grew up in Virginia Beach. The port serves as a symbol of the mind-expanding power of travel.

CELESTIAL NAVIGATION / The sailor
The dandy silhouette takes shape in the image of the sailor’s uniform expressed in navy or maritime striped double-breasted suits with flared trousers or shorts. Pea and double-breasted naval coats are adorned with pearls buttons featured on garments throughout. Stripe motifs are recreated in miniature strings of pearls encrusted on a double-breasted black coat and shorts. Sailor’s suits in chambray embed a nautical vocabulary within the grammar of Pharrell Williams. Elsewhere, this transition is expressed in a shell-embroidered varsity jacket with a sailor’s collar that zips into a hoodie, and in sweats trimmed with ship rope. The tattoos of seafarers morph with shells in graphics and crests.

NEPTUNE / The fisherman
Patterns familiar to sailors are reimagined with unexpected elements. A new infinity LV logo latticed like net appears on a knitted cardigan, the jacquard of a suit and shorts, and the nylon sleeves of a mixed-material leather jacket. Elsewhere, indigo and washed-black denim shorts and shirts are bleached in the same latticing interpreted in workwear. Neptune – the Roman god of the seas and freshwater – appears in a pattern inspired by floral shirts typical of Hawaii, as well as a denim bomber jacket embellished with pearls and crystals, a nod to the lakes and fishermen of Virginia.