The Louis Vuitton show kicked off Paris Fashion Week yesterday as Pharrell Williams partnered with his longtime friend, Nigo, for the new collection. You may not recognise Nigo, the name or the face, but you know the brand he founded over 30 years ago: Bape, aka A Bathing Ape. And of course you know the label he currently presides over: Kenzo. 

 

This collaboration, then, was obviously going to be streetwear, but super elevated. It’s accessible in that it’s not a huge style swing, therefore highly commercial (which they need right now considering the decline in luxury profits), and quite versatile. As in, this is classified as menswear as a distinction between the house’s two departments, but so many of the pieces can be worn by anyone. For example, if I could afford it, the first thing I would buy is the pink damier cardigan with the blossoms, OMG. 

Louis Vuitton show, Autumn Winter 2025, Paris Fashion Week, France
 

Also check out this gorgeous zip-up: 

Louis Vuitton show, Autumn Winter 2025, Paris Fashion Week, France

As is always the case with LV, it was wall-to-wall celebrities in attendance. And as has been the case, more and more, over the last few years, the major fashion houses are catering to eastern pop culture not just for eastern spending power but fan presence outside the shows. There are now so many C, J, and K-drama and pop fans all around the world who show up and wait outside the venues, more than ever before, so that it now feels like a rock concert. Which is an appropriate lead-in right now because it was BTS’s j-hope who was greeted with the most intense screams even from far behind the barricade. (Note from Emily: unfortunately none of our photo agencies have any shots of j-hope.)

 

This is pent-up enthusiasm though. J-hope is relatively fresh out of military service, it’s his first trip to Paris since his return. He just announced an upcoming world tour. New music is expected, and new music arrived last night at the end of the show when his new joint with Don Tolliver, “LV Bag”, produced by Pharrell, played during Pharrell and Nigo’s victory lap. 

Hobi’s tour will take him through to the beginning of the summer, ending juuuuust before mid-June and Festa, June 13, aka BTS’s anniversary which is when RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook are expected to be discharged. Suga should follow shortly after. So… ARMY… we are almost there, almost there.

 

In addition to J-hope, also repping the Korean celebrity ecosystem, Gong Yoo, my beloved, aka your Recruiter in Squid Game. Flip through this carousel until you get to him with his 70s styled tousled hair and that pink bomber, I AM NOT OK. 

 

Gong Yoo has long been an ambassador for LV, as has Dylan Wang, one of China’s most popular actors whose new series Guardians of the Dafeng has broken ratings records this month. As the kids say, this face card never declines, he is stupidly pretty. 

As for the Hollywood stars in the front row – Bradley Cooper and Adrien Brody were both there, here’s BCoop arriving. 

 

And I’ll close this out with a bang. The man who melted down the internet a couple of weeks ago: Aaron Pierre, that’s Mufasa. 

This just in – Aaron covers GQ Hype and steady yourselves if you haven’t seen this yet. He might break you. 

 

Photo credits: Maria Rubtsova/ BFA.com/ YOAN VALAT/ EPA-EFE/ Marechal Aurore/ ABACA/ Shutterstock

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