, a luxury-retail consultancy firm. “They touch the high-end consumer’s life at all angles, whether it be fashion, jewelry, accessories, beverages, even hotels.” Vuitton is saying much the same thing by referring to itself in recent years as a “cultural maison.
Ultimately, it’s not really about Louis Vuitton or Pharrell at all—it’s about what comes next, for everyone else. Celebrity runs on hype, and the hype machine needs to be fed; it isn’t hard to imagine the wildly disjointed effects of a fashion industry suddenly forced to chase Q scores across channels to find the next symbiotic publicity bonanza.
And yet, there’s excitement in the air. While Pharrell’s first show may have taken place at sunset, for Louis Vuitton, it felt like a new day. Max Berlinger is a freelance writer based in Brooklyn. He covers fashion, culture, and lifestyles for a variety of publications including