Pharrell Williams may be a multi Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter-producer, but his latest show is being panned as tone-deaf. Pharrell has been the men’s creative director for Louis Vuitton since 2023, and he just presented the brand’s 2027 spring-summer show at Paris Fashion Week. C’est bon, except as part of Pharrell’s vision, the catwalk was built outside Cité Universitaire, a dormitory with about 12,000 students in residence, and it featured a sand-covered runway set against an eight-meter-high waterfall backdrop. As we know, Paris, France, and Europe writ large are going through a massive heatwave (which apparently is America’s fault, she said sarcastically). Record-breaking temps are regularly hitting 40 degrees Celsius (about 104 Fahrenheit) in a country where only one in four households have air conditioning. Given the extreme circumstances, un énorme waterfall to show off some hot couture isn’t exactly the best look. Louis Vuitton’s parent company LVMH, Cité Universitaire, and Paris officials have been busy responding to criticism:
In response to the backlash, an LVMH spokesperson asserted no water was wasted. “The water used to create the wave comes entirely from Paris’ water supply, which was pumped to the site and then entirely redirected back into Paris’ sewer system via a closed-loop system,” the spokesperson told Reuters.
They added the sand would be repurposed for the Cité Universitaire’s beach-volleyball courts and by a recycling partner, with the event adapted to comply with heatwave regulations. Jerome Duplan, communications director for the Cité Universitaire, corroborated the closed-loop system.
While proponents argue staging runway shows in public buldings enhances Paris’ reputation as the global fashion capital, some ambitious industry projects have consistently met local resistance.
Melody Tonolli, Paris deputy mayor for student living conditions, commented on the latest display: “I understand the public’s reaction to poorly explained privatisations, with restrictions on access and, in the midst of a heatwave, a display that sends a very unfortunate message.”
LVMH stated the six-week installation was agreed in consultation with its host. The Cité Universitaire’s Duplan noted Louis Vuitton’s sponsorship helped fund the structure, as the complex faces financial pressures from declining public funding and rising costs.
I don’t care how far in advance these plans were made, someone from the PR department of one of these groups — LVMH, Cité Universitaire, the city of Paris, Pharrell’s team — should have intervened. Not to be all Kourtney Kardashian about it, but there’s people that are dying from the heat, only a quarter of Parisians are air conditioned, and the hospitals are so stressed there’s a temporary ban on public drinking. Mounting a waterfall to show off luxury clothing most of us will never be able to afford yet celebs who can are given for free, in the city of Paris itself, is a little too “Let them eat cake” to maison, oui? Not to mention the waterfall effect could easily have been a video projection. Plus, you know, the water and sand don’t make the clothes any better. The art should be in the clothing, not the fuss all around them. I know spectacle is a big part of fashion, but at the end of the day the clothes should be the biggest ooh-la-la moment. Though dieu bless the plucky LVMH spox who clapped back with, “But the sand is going back to volleyball courts!”