Pharrell Williams, the star designer of the Louis Vuitton brand, opened Paris Men’s Fashion Week for fall-winter 2025-2026 on Tuesday, January 21, with a less spectacular show at the Louvre than usual and which confirms the end of streetwear hegemony.
A fifth collection called Remember the futureproduced in collaboration with his friend Nigo, the artistic director of Kenzo, presented in a setting specially designed for the occasion in the heart of the square courtyard of the famous Parisian museum.
Strolling down a circular runway punctuated by large cubes decorated with Vuitton’s monogram flower – which later turned out to be display cases displaying archives of the two designers – the models wore long tweed coats, thick boots, and pants. flare (fitted at the top of the thigh then flared), Teddy jackets or even wide Bermuda shorts.
All in autumnal colors, sometimes with a touch of candy pink and multiple handbags, of different sizes, including a mini Vuitton trunk so soft that it folds in the hand. If the influence of the street remains perceptible, with camouflage prints in particular or a few bomber jackets, this new collection does seem to confirm the end of the hegemony of streetwear, praised to the skies by Virgil Abloh, the predecessor of Pharrell Williams at Vuitton .
The creative musician, famous for his hits Happy or Get Lucky alongside Daft Punk, once again called on the Orchester du Pont-Neuf to accompany this show which turned out to be much less spectacular than its parade at the Pont-Neuf in 2023, its western show at the Jardin d’acclimatation of 2024 and its parade-manifesto at UNESCO the same year. For the record, Pharrell Williams’ first show for Vuitton in 2023 reached 500 million views on social media.
-Tuesday’s fashion show at the Louvre organized by the major luxury brand, however, once again attracted an audience of stars, including French basketball player Victor Wembanyama, muse of the brand, and actors Idris Elba, Bradley Cooper, Omar Sy and Pio Marmaï. South Korean star J-Hope, from the K-pop group BTS, was also there, attracting many fans to the area around the famous museum, as was visual artist Takashi Murakami, who recently reissued his collection for the trunk maker twenty years after their first collaboration.
Before that, the Japanese brand Auralee presented its new men’s and women’s collections during a mixed fashion show in the afternoon. Loose suits accompanied by a hoodie zipped, long knitted dresses, leather or wool jackets, very short perfectos… The designer Ryota Iwai has once again offered a line of well-thought-out basics with careful details.
In the evening, the French brand Coucou Bebe 75018, known for its provocative jackets bearing the image of Marine Le Pen, Elisabeth Borne and Jean Castex, worn by K-pop and American stars, organized its first show on the sidelines of men’s fashion week. “A performance“, designed as an MMA fight by creator Kanoush who was inspired by the work of Russian artist Piotr Pavlenski.
Paris Fashion Week follows in Milan’s footsteps. Due to the flurry of artistic directors in recent months, it promises to be a little less dense than last year, with 37 fashion shows and 30 presentations over six days, until Sunday January 26. Givenchy and Valentino are notably missing, their new designers preferring to reserve themselves respectively for women’s fashion week in March and haute couture next week.
Another notable absence is that of Loewe, whose artistic director Jonathan Anderson is reportedly leaving, according to several specialist media. The luxury houses Dior Homme and Hermès, like the Japanese Kenzo, Yōji Yamamoto, Issey Miyake and Mihara Yasuhiro, will be present.
One of the most scrutinized shows will undoubtedly be that of Jacquemus. For its return to the official calendar after five years of absence, The Provençal announced on Instagram “a show filmed entirely on the iPhone“. Lanvin will also be back to close this Fashion Week after two years of absence, with the first collection by Peter Copping, appointed artistic director of the oldest French fashion house in June.
Also taking part will be AMI, Rick Owens, Paul Smith, and, for the first time in Paris, the Californian designer Willy Chavarria, at the head of his own house, and the Frenchman Emeric Tchatchoua, founder of the streetwear label 3. Heaven.
