Pharrell for Louis Vuitton and the Celebrification of Everything

Many of us were rooting for an underdog to get this job. But this is a logical appointment for so many reasons.

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A little background on today’s story can be found in two earlier Back Row earlier posts: “Despite Criticism, Virgil Abloh Soared”; and “Brad Pitt's Fashion Is New to Him, But Not New.”

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Sixteen months after the sudden death of Virgil Abloh, Louis Vuitton said it was “delighted” to announce that Pharrell would succeed him as the head of men’s design for the house. So, if you thought they were going to go with someone who had gone to fashion school and worked their way up in the industry, well, that was cute.

The announcement came from Louis Vuitton’s new CEO Pietro Beccari, whom LVMH moved to Vuitton last month from Christian Dior, where Delphine Arnualt (LVMH chief Bernard’s daughter) is now CEO.

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A post shared by Louis Vuitton (@louisvuitton)

Many social media commenters noted that a lot of professional fashion designers would have loved to get — and really could have used — this job. Why does a celebrity who is known for music get the spot? Rumored successors to Abloh had included critically acclaimed designers who studied fashion design, such as Grace Wales Bonner and Martine Rose.

However, maybe that type of hire was always a long shot for this particular job.