There are few relationships in the world of fashion quite like Pharrell’s and Nigo’s. The duo have been friends for nearly 30 years, first meeting in the early 2000s and going on to lead the streetwear boom of the next 15 years with Nigo’s A Bathing Ape and their Billionaire Boys Club and Icecream labels. Today they remain both their biggest cheerleaders and fashion soundboards, cementing their longstanding creative unity with a co-designed Louis Vuitton collection staged inside a colossal silver Damier check box built in the courtyard of the Louvre.

Described as an “artistic manifestation of a friendship for life”, the collection marked a full circle moment of sorts for Pharrell and Nigo (who’s currently Kenzo’s creative director, due to show his next collection on Friday). The pair first collaborated with Louis Vuitton under Marc Jacobs, masterminding the maison’s hit Millionaire shades in 2004. On the catwalk today was a cross pollination of the pair’s shared tastes and influences. The silhouette echoed Noughties streetwear with a flavour of “modern dandyism”, including roomy camouflage suits in cherry blossom pink, heavy-duty denim workwear and sharp-shouldered overcoats paired with baggy trousers and bulbous sneakers.

Echoes of the duo’s time spent together in Tokyo over the years could be seen in rockabilly flourishes (inspired by Shibuya’s die-hard subcultures) and Japanese floral motifs, also leading to Pharrell’s most inventive range of bags to date. These included a lobster-shaped clutch – the pair had caught one IRL during a recent fishing trip – Speedys in sugary hues, monogrammed luggage stamped with drawings of both designers and supersized transparent trunks that were carted through the showspace.  

As the show finished, frosted glass boxes that circled the catwalk transformed to reveal an extensive collection of objects pulled from Nigo and Pharrell’s personal archives, ranging from magazine covers starring the duo through to rare BAPE designs and N.E.R.D. merch. There’s no doubt that today’s catwalk standouts will go on to be collector’s items in their own right.

Photography courtesy of Louis Vuitton.

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