Pharrell Williams on the Louis Vuitton men’s show in Hong Kong and preserving Virgil Abloh’s legacy

“It’s a pleasure to be here in Hong Kong. Just seeing everything that the culture has gone through ... people here have gone through a lot. And my Asian siblings have been good to me over the past almost 30 years of my professional career—the ups and downs just always champion me and never leave on my side. So when I got this appointment, of course I wanted to come here.

Hong Kong is a major artery in the world, and in the world’s economy. To be here after [three-and-a-half years of the city being cut off by the pandemic], to now being slingshot into an energetic flow is an honour. It just feels serendipitous we get to have this show while you guys are on this rise. It’s not that you don’t have your challenges. But for everything that you went through, I feel it in the citizens and the businesses coming back because the business doesn’t work if the citizens are not ready for it. The citizens want it. So the business owners are doing well, and you’re on this uptick. I’m watching it happen, this is your moment.”

Read more: Pharrell Williams on coming to Art Basel Hong Kong, his new project and how objects hold energy

“It was inspired by the idea of a Hong Kong businessman, who’s decided to spend a week or so in Hawaii for a vacation or resort holiday. But in the middle of this trip, he has to go back to Hong Kong for one day for a meeting that he couldn’t move.

And the archetypes that we chose were like a sailor. And then someone in the other archetype was somebody who’s on holiday. And there’s a lot of floral inspiration … a deep-dive into exotic colourways, interesting pairings of colours. The silhouette you’re going to see is consistent with what I’m infatuated with when it comes to formal, which is future of chic, which is dandy. There’s a lot of dandy and the sailor silhouette and the resort holiday silhouette.”

These [fashion] legacies are something that I always want to hold up and always want to give reverence to. I started with Marc Jacobs 20 years ago, when he first invited us to his studio. And then 19 years ago, we put out the sunglasses. And there’s a photo of Kanye, Virgil and myself, and they’re wearing the Millionaires [sunglasses]. Never in a million years did I ever think that I would do anything after the sunglasses. [But] then we did a campaign with [Louis Vuitton]. And then we did jewellery, for me that was that was the greatest thing ever. That was it.

So when he [Virgil Abloh] got the appointment, it was intrinsically tied together. This is crazy. We’ve both been here. I continue to be so proud of everything that he did.

I’m going to tell you how this all ties together. When we did a music festival in Virginia Beach: we did three days and on a Saturday night, I closed on one stage, and Virgil closed on another stage. He came from Paris to Virginia. And when I got appointed, I’m from Virginia, and we went to Paris. In Virginia, our state of slogan or mantra is Virginia is for lovers. So when you see lovers [LV lovers slogan] tonight, that is where all this started.

I went to his last show in Miami, after he had passed away, and I live in Miami myself. So I was at that show. I didn’t think anything of it, and two years went past. And then I got that call [to be Louis Vuitton’s creative head for menswear]. So when you mentioned him, I just need you to know how much of a connection there is, with our history, how it just intertwines over the last 20 years, and how honoured I am and I will always give reference to our brother. So yeah, [my work] is always a nod to him.”

“I’ve probably done more music, more songs than I probably ever have in my life. I started a little bit in January, music-wise, it’s just been beyond productive. Paris continues to inspire me. Yes, you will hear music tonight.”

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