DUBAI: Danish model Mona Tougaard attended the celebrity-packed outdoor Louis Vuitton show in Paris, which was musician-turned-designer Pharrell Williams’ first runway as the men’s creative director at the French luxury fashion house. 

The model — who is of Turkish, Somali and Ethiopian descent — wore an oversized purple set, white sneakers and a pearl necklace as she took in the brand’s menswear Spring/Summer 2024 collection. 

Tougaard was joined by US Palestinian model Fai Khadra, Romanian Jordanian footwear designer Amina Muaddi and British Oscar winner Riz Ahmed. 

A long list of A-list celebrities sat front row included Beyonce, Jay-Z, Kim Kardashian, Zendaya, LeBron James, Rihanna, A$AP Rocky, Jared Leto and Kelly Rowland. 

In a show that further anchored the LVMH-owned label in popular culture, models strode across the gold-painted runway to live music. They paraded pearl-embellished tracksuits, furry outerwear and sparkling jackets with the label’s signature checkmark pattern, in all colors and sizes, including shades of camouflage.

A couple of souped-up karts even made their way down the catwalk carrying piles of classic Vuitton luggage.

The soundtrack made its way from stately classical music to full-blown gospel disco.

Crowds gathered along the Seine River, craning for a glimpse of the looks, which continued LV’s approach of mixing street style with luxury.

“I’m the second Black man to ever experience this on the planet, the biggest fashion house in the world,” Williams said in an interview before the show, referring to the role he has held since February.

Best known as the singer and writer of pop hits “Happy” and “Blurred Lines,” the 50-year-old Williams ended months of speculation by filling the shoes of his friend Virgil Abloh, who held the job from March 2018 until his death in November 2021. Abloh had been the industry’s highest-profile Black designer. 

“The idea was to instill the idea that Louis Vuitton is also the master of tailoring of a dandy man who wants to be somewhat more elegant,” Vuitton CEO Pietro Beccari said of his brief to Williams. “That was not difficult because that’s him. ... What you see on the catwalk is Pharrell, multiplied by 70 looks.”

DUBAI: Romanian Jordanian designer Amina Muaddi attended the Prada Spring/Summer 2024 show during Milan Men’s Fashion Week. 

The footwear designer wore an oversized grey suit, with a long pencil skirt and a white tank top. She paired her look with a grey clutch and black heels from her eponymous label.   

The Italian luxury fashion house’s collection was viewed through a wall of clear falling slime — a form of fluid architecture — that gathered on the metallic grate runway in piles of green foam. The moving architecture was a metaphor for a collection that was meant to express the fluidity of menswear, according to the show notes. 

Co-creative directors Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons said they were experimenting with the idea of a fluid architecture that animates the male form, never constricting, The Associated Press reported. 

The collection’s building blocks are the white shirt, mid-thigh shorts, black socks and thick-soled shiny loafers. The collection also includes jeans, blazers and raincoats. Leather bags are soft, with decorative pockets.

The textiles are super-light, allowing button-down shirts or jackets to be tucked neatly into shorts, which are gathered at the waist.

Hawaiian-inspired prints of sci-fi dragons were curtained with a long fringe, creating motion. Pockets on a reporter’s vest were more decorative than utilitarian, the designers said. Looks were finished with molded eyewear and headbands, conveying a kinetic energy.

Earlier this week, Muaddi landed on the shores of Lake Como with the opening of her first pop-up store, in partnership with Tessabit. 

The shoemaker collaborated with the historic boutique, located inside Villa D’Este, in Como, for a seven-week-long pop-up.

To celebrate the opening of the pop-up, a special dinner was organized, featuring guests such as Moroccan Italian model Malika El-Maslouhi, Italian actress Sabrina Impacciatore, musician Joan Thiele, German blogger Caroline Daur and more. 

El-Maslouhi also took to Instagram to support Muaddi’s pop-up, posting photos from Lake Como, alongside Daur and model Maty Diba. She captioned the post, “Amina’s Angels.” 

Muaddi launched her eponymous footwear line in August 2018, about one year after departing from her role as co-founder and creative director of luxury footwear label Oscar Tiye. 

The creator also helped design the shoes for Rihanna’s Fenty collection. The collaboration was so successful that it received the Collaborator of the Year award at the 34th edition of the FN Achievement Awards in 2020.