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In February, Louis Vuitton announced Pharrell Williams as the new men’s creative director. Pharrell, a musician, record producer, and designer from the US will succeed Virgil Abloh at the French fashion company.
Pharrell’s first fashion collection will debut at the Men’s Fashion Week in Paris in June.
Pietro Beccari, the CEO of Louis Vuitton, said “I am glad to welcome Pharrell back home, after our collaborations in 2004 and 2008 for Louis Vuitton.” Beccari says that Pharrell will make the company more exciting.
This news comes about one year after Abloh’s death in November 2021. His death, at age 41, was due to cancer.
Abloh was a famous designer and the first Black artistic director of Louis Vuitton when he started in 2018. His designs combined streetwear with luxury fashion and attracted younger customers. His death was a shock to many people.
For a long time, many people wondered who would succeed Abloh.
Pharrell is a famous musician with 13 Grammy awards, but the 49-year-old also has experience in fashion. He co-founded a fashion company in 2003 and has also collaborated with many brands like Tiffany & Co. and Adidas.
Pharrel has also worked on projects outside of music and fashion. At the beginning of 2022, he announced that he was working on a hotel project in the Bahamas. He has also designed a cutlery set.
Many people are excited to see his collection in June.
Vocabulary
- Announce – share information openly; to tell the public; to make a statement; to report
- Creative director – a person in charge of or the boss of a project, usually in the field of advertising, marketing, or design
- Musician – a who plays a musical instrument or sings professionally; a person who makes music
- Record producer – a person in charge of/the boss of production and recording of music; someone who helps make music
- Designer – a person who makes things look good and work well
- Succeed – to come after another person or thing in time; to take an official job or position after someone else
- Fashion collection – a set of clothing items that a designer creates and presents as a group for a particular season or occasion; a group of clothes that go together
- Debut – the first time something is shown or done in public; the first time for many people to see
- CEO (Chief Executive officer) – the top person in a large company; president; boss
- Collaboration – working together with others on a project or task
- Death – when someone or something stops being alive; the end of a life
- Cancer – a disease in which some of the body’s cells grow uncontrollably and spread to other parts of the body
- Combine – bring together; merge; in total; unite; put together; mix
- Luxury – very expensive and high quality
- Attract – to cause something to come toward something else; to pull or draw someone or something toward them
- Shock – a sudden event that is surprising or upsetting; surprise; unexpected news
- Wonder – to ask yourself questions or express a wish to know about something; think about
- Co-found – to start a company with one or more other people
- Brand – the name of a company and its image; one product with a specific name made by one company, e.g., Sprite is one of Coca-Cola’s brands
- Cutlery – 🍴; the tools we use to eat, like knives, forks, and spoons
Quiz
Discussion Questions
- What do you think are the benefits of having a musician like Pharrell Williams as a creative director for a fashion company like Louis Vuitton?
- Do you think celebrities with no real fashion training can be successful in the fashion industry, or do they need to have a background in fashion design to be successful?
- What challenges do you think Pharrell may face in his new role as men’s creative director for Louis Vuitton, and how do you think he might overcome them? Will his experience in the music industry hurt him or help him?
Original Story
- English teachers looking for teaching ideas, check out my post on using easy news articles for lessons.
- English learners looking for study ideas, check out my post on using news stories for English practice.
