Looking for the ultimate status symbol this year? Consider a unique offering from Louis Vuitton’s newest men’s artistic director Pharrell Williams, whose debut at Paris Spring Summer 2024 Fashion Week was the stuff of legend (more on that later.) Meet the yellow, so-called “Millionaire” Speedy bag that’s reportedly priced at—you guessed it—$1 million. Talk about your “Flaunt It If You Got It” moment.
Although the details are scarce, the unique brightly colored bag is rumored to be completely handmade and constructed by one of the French luxury fashion house’s experimental leather workshops. The piece sports yellow crocodile leather and tan accents, while hardware such as the rivets, buckles, and chain are made of yellow gold. “LV” padlock with VVS pavé diamonds rounds out the duffle.
If, however, your budget isn’t rock star astronomical, consider the “Millionaire’s” less pricy sibling, the Speedy bag, that made its way onto Williams’ incredible debut fashion show held in Paris and on the arm of Rihanna, who stars in the designer’s first LV campaign. Originally made of top-notch canvas that helps keep its structure and shape, the Williams-fied version has been reworked in a buttery leather, available in an array of bold colors like yellow, blue, red, and green, that is very tactile and collapsible and likely to become a cult classic.
Speaking of the show, Louis Vuitton’s Spring-Summer 2024 presentation was the absolute hottest ticket of the week, in no small part due to Williams’ sartorial inauguration and the celebrity guest list in attendance that felt like the Grammy’s (hello, Mr. and Mrs. Carter! And was that Rihanna with A$AP Rocky?) No surprise there, considering the Creative Director’s connections to the expansive multiverses of music, film, and culture. The spectacle’s unexpected factor was the fabulous and wearable pieces that marched down the Pont Neuf, the oldest bridge in Paris, turned into the runway for the occasion. The location chosen for the show, with a runway covered in the iconic Damier pattern that Williams chose to highlight as the key component in his new collection, was no coincidence. The bridge’s proximity to the Louis Vuitton studios as well as its metaphorical symbolism of the space between Paris and Virginia, Pharrell’s home state made for compelling background to the sartorial storytelling of the collection.
Williams’ vision was a mix of maximalist logo-fueled design – a fuzzy, full-length coat with LV logos, a football-style shirt with a Louis Vuitton crest – smart tailoring, and many bags. It strongly echoed Williams’ own tailored DNA of nerdy meets sporty, regal meets the street. Cohesive, clever, and very desirable, William’s take on the signature checkerboard, aka Damier, was on full display across bags, leather biker jackets, and denim coats. Elsewhere, a pixelated camo pattern, that felt very new fresh, covered parkas and suits. The pixelated Damier was a result of incredibly thoughtful collaboration with ET Artist, who treated the blocks like eight-bit Atari graphics, including pixelated images of Pont Neuf. Williams also enlisted artist Henry Taylor to create artwork of figures embroidered on Alma bags. A high point – possibly a first for fashion – was a Jeep convertible driven down the catwalk stacked with luggage. The “LV is for Lovers” slogan was a nod to Williams’s home state of Virginia.
The reverence for Virginia was not the only thing of guiding spirit during Williams’ creative process. “Virgil Abloh has always been a brother in spirit. Now, that is literally what we work with here,” he added in a press release about his predecessor. “He left a lot of hits with the House. As far as I’m concerned, I’m collaborating with his spirit. I’m honored. When he got this appointment, I was really, really happy for him… It was crazy what the connections were, and the respect he had for us, and which we continue to have for him. I can tell you that Virgil and me being here has to say to kids who look like us, ‘Oh, I can do anything. I can be anything.’”
Undoubtedly, the collection will be a hit with Louis Vuitton’s audience for its wearability and evolution of the brand’s ethos. To get up close and personal with it, visit Louis Vuitton, located on the Upper and Lower Levels of Aventura Mall.
