Pharrell Williams' Wild West Wardrobe

Go west young man, go west. Pharrell Williams did it on Tuesday: He invented a modern, Wild West wardrobe in his latest collection for Louis Vuitton, presented in weather conditions worthy of Montana winter.

For her second LV show, Williams took the brand to the Jardin d'Acclimatation in the Bois de Boulogne, building a giant stage behind the Vuitton Foundation.

One thing all the designers of the LVMH empire say is that their luxury baron Bernard Arnault likes big spectacles. Well, this was huge. Pharrell asked the great Disney animator Ron Husband to help him illustrate the Vuitton designer's “vision of the first cowboy.”

Then, the cast paraded before a giant screen projection of the Rocky Mountains, mixing elements of Monument Valley and 'High Plains Drifter.' And as the show went on, it started snowing on the screen and then fake snow flocks on the audience.

In effect, the collection was a series of Western archetypes reinvented as Vuitton dandies. Gunmen walking past embroidered denim chaps and Doc Holliday redingotes. Randy ranch hands in doublets made of saddle leather or jean jackets embroidered with desert flowers.

Sheriffs looking for thieves in felt wool cabins or yellow “Badlands” overalls. Like many in the cast who march in massive collaboration boots with Timberland. Another limited edition of these boots will come with eyelets and LV monograms done in gold.

Or cattle barons, and not couture ones, in large coats with turquoise stone buttons, held up by metal-tipped cowboy boots, emblazoned with LV and Texas, and topped by ten-gallon hats.

A show that included half a dozen girls, in cream suede dance shirts, rawhide chaps and chain belts with LV riding buckles, or ruffled teacher shirts. Haute-hipster 'High Noon' style.

All presented before a front row that included Bradley Cooper, Carey Mulligan, Marcus Mumford, Venus Williams, Marco Verratti and Paris Saint Germain goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Williams continued with her signature suit, comprised of flared pants and a micro-breasted jacket with no pocket flaps, seen in pristine white wool and faded denim and finished with fabric cacti. And she even mixed in some Minecraft looks inspired by her debut collection presented last June at Pont Neuf.

Not being a PETA fan, he sent in some great furs, from a wild hunter's red fox fur coat to a couture-worthy pink-white mink coat shaved in a more plaid print.

Four different models loaded carts with giant Vuitton trunks in red, ladies' or gold plaid, and turned to march toward Arnault and his wife Helene, as if symbolically handing over the revenue this collection is sure to generate.

Because it was a very commercial collection from Pharrell, a musician whose ability to produce hit after hit has now translated into fashion.

Politically correct fashion designers now regularly talk about inclusivity, but Williams does so instinctively. From his hybrid music to his multicultural way.

All the way to the end. The Native Voices of the Resistance appeared, singing and playing hand drums, and their clothing was designed to show the history of Vuitton's connection to the Dakota and Lakota nations.

Even if it was slightly transgressive, with a lot of children's kilts and shown in a very diverse cast, this show was a great success. Winner Pharrell, who bowed jointly with his cast, then his team, and then the musicians, received applause.

A pedant might object that this collection didn't really advance vernacular fashion or present any paradigm. But it did achieve a very useful goal. This show was a huge success, raising the temperature even further at Vuitton, the €20 billion brand that is the most popular men's fashion brand today.