Louis Vuitton men’s creative director Pharrell Williams decamped from the desert and Western codes of recent seasons for a cooler idea — surfing in Paris.
As the city melted on the first day of fashion week, Louis Vuitton staged a beachscape complete with a giant wave pool, LV-branded surfboards, bicycles and a sandy runway.
The sport theme was fitting, considering the front row filled with NBA player Victor Wembanyama and Olympian Léon Marchand, who were seated together next to LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton chairman Bernard Arnault, while Jeremy Allen White chatted with Vuitton CEO and LVMH Fashion Group CEO Pietro Beccari.
Throngs of fans lined the entrance of Paris’ Cité Internationale Universitaire to see BTS’ J-Hope, with the group set to kick off the European leg of its world tour in Barcelona on Friday.
Jackson Wang marked his eighth appearance at a Vuitton men’s runway show since becoming a house ambassador, arriving in a look from the brand’s fall 2026 collection — an all-black suit and leather jacket — which seemed a little hot for the day.
But Wang was less concerned with styling than with the set itself. “I don’t know how to surf; I have no idea. I know nothing about surfing,” he said, taking in the giant wave pool.
“Just the set design — it’s actually real water flowing, and it’s an actual beach, and it’s outdoors,” he said. “It’s f–king crazy.”
“It’s a creative feast, which you know surprises me. How Pharrell Williams still comes with something and reinvents himself constantly. It’s really mind-boggling, how he does it, and it’s so stimulating for all senses,” said Daniel Bruhl.
The German actor also admitted to a lack of wave skills. “I tried it a couple of times and I was miserable,” he joked.
He’ll next star in “The Entertainment System Is Down,” from two-time Palme d’Or winner Ruben Ostlund. But he’s currently prepping to get behind the camera.
“I [directed] once and cannot wait to do it again — obviously with a very different piece and subject matter, different periods going back in time into another sport — not surfing, thank God, but tennis,” he joked. It will be a World War II-set biopic about the life of tennis legend Gottfried von Cramm.
Edmund Donovan, next up in “The Nightingale,” wore a crinkled Louis Vuitton shirt that he described with bewilderment.
“This is revealing my ignorance about the sophistication of this garment,” he said, while popping the hem up and down. “It sort of reminds me of pipe cleaner — as if it had a wire — you put it in place and it stays.”
Since there was a giant wave pool inside, he speculated if the security would let him swim. “That could help, although this might not fare well in the water,” he said.
Wang’s Got7 bandmate BamBam was relaxing in his front row seat, after being put to work on the runway last season. “It was a good time. This time it was like chill and stuff,” he said.
He also described his and Williams’ creative partnership, and cited the musician as an inspiration. “Pharrell has put me in a lot of projects in the past year,” he said, including presenting a trophy at the Australian Open as part of his brand ambassador duties.
“He even made a visit in the studio with me with the latest album I dropped, so you know he always gives me a really good opportunities, and I’ve learned so much through him,” he added.
