Kicking off Paris Men’s Fashion Week in proper fashion, Pharrell Williams presented his fifth ready-to-wear collection as the Louis Vuitton Men’s creative director on Tuesday against the iconic backdrop of the Centre Pompidou, transforming the square into a cinematic runway set complete with live music by Voices of Fire and l’Orchestre du Pont Neuf and a front row that rivaled the Met Gala in star power. Welcoming the world of sports and entertainment’s crème de la crème— from Atlanta rapper Future and Algerian model Younes Bengjima, French-Senegalese actor Omar Sy, to the one and only Beyoncé— few shows could have ushered in the Spring 2026 season with more flair.
Models strutted down an enormous Snakes and Ladders board that Louis Vuitton constructed as the set of this evening’s menswear show wearing the latest designs from Williams’ India-inspired offering (Snakes and Ladders originated in India), “immersing the audience and cast as players in this metaphorical construct of possibility,” per a description by the House.
@milleworlddotcom Mille World & friends had fun at #louisvuitton #parisfashionweek ♬ Wasted Summers – juju<3
Inspired by a trip to India in 2018, the collection paid tribute to the country’s rich visual traditions. Animal forms and references were seen left, right, and center taking shape in the form of frog bags slung with irony to elephants, antelope, and zebras parading across maroon suit jackets and damier check canvas bags. “Childish” here was redefined not as immature, but as a joyful celebration of wonder and imagination. Arguably his most retail-minded collection to date, Williams dialed down on exuberance in favor of wearability, anchoring playful motifs in sharply cut tailoring, grounded color palettes, and commercial clarity without sacrificing the designer’s signature sense of spectacle. Loose, casual cuts could be spotted on the runway, while accessories, such as the new range of men’s holdalls, stole the show for both their bold variety and real-world practicality.
A streetwear sensibility coursed through the collection too, as seen through the silver bomber jacket, the new skate shoe, the Buttersoft sneaker, the hoodies, or the monogram puffer. Many pieces were reminiscent, in a way, of Williams’ beginnings in hip-hop. The unofficial mascot of the season? A frog. During a visit to renowned architect Bijoy Jain of Studio Mumbai, Pharrell and his team were struck by the chorus of frogs echoing through Jain’s garden, thus the amphibian making its way into the collection as a recurring symbol.
The coup-de-coeur across the 76 total looks is probably the knitwear. Cropped here, elongated there, sometimes even overlaying a shirt or paired with loafers, they disrupted the otherwise polished feel of some of the offerings, remaining preppy though still edgy enough to feel at home anywhere from the skatepark to the business lounge of the closest five-star.
When Pharrell was named Virgil Abloh’s successor in 2023, following the designer’s unexpected passing in 2021, there was no shortage of skepticism. Abloh had shifted the paradigm, bringing a cultural fluency to Louis Vuitton that felt both radical and overdue. The shoes left behind were massive, and Pharrell knew it. But with each season, he’s making a stronger case for himself as the right choice.
