In temperatures close to 40C, most of Paris would have loved to go to the beach this week. Guests at the Louis Vuitton show got the look at least – the ground was covered with sand and there was a huge artificial wave as a backdrop.
The menswear collection, designed by Pharrell Williams, had a surf theme. There were branded wetsuits, Ugg-style boots and the chunky knits surfers wear at the end of a day. There were some jumpers and slouchy suiting, but the active lifestyle idea took centre stage with board shorts, caps, skate-style sneakers and a gilet. Some models carried surfboards branded with the Louis Vuitton logo and the final look was a model in a monogram wetsuit carrying a bike on his shoulder.
The venue for the show – the gardens of university accommodation usually used by students – has caused some controversy. There was a small protest outside the event and 1,300 people signed a petition against the brand using the lawn, making it off-limits to those living there. This follows other brands – including Loewe and Victoria Beckham – using the space. In April, a letter from union representatives complained of “external events unrelated to the university’s mission repeatedly [privatising] spaces essential to residents’ lives”.
The rapper and singer Missy Elliott, the actor Jeremy Allen White and the basketball player Victor Wembanyama sat in the front row, but Louis Vuitton had already scored one of the biggest coups in celebrity menswear before this week. The actor Callum Turner, an ambassador for the brand, wore two suits designed by Williams for his three-event wedding to Dua Lipa. Turner wore a tan suit for the reception in Palermo, and a black custom-made tuxedo for the final ceremony at a 18th-century Sicilian mansion – with Lipa’s Instagram post showing the newly-weds gaining 14m likes, it’s the kind of product placement that has serious reach.
Lavish statements come as standard at Louis Vuitton, which in 2025 was named the most valuable fashion brand at $40.7bn (£31bn). Along with the impressive set on Tuesday evening, the show featured a live orchestra and also a choir. In May, the womenswear arm staged a no-expenses spared show at the Frick museum in New York. Keen to underline its connection to high culture, the brand has agreed to sponsor the museum – the home of masterpieces from Rembrandt, Holbein and Vermeer – for three years.
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Earlier on Tuesday, Saint Laurent staged its show. Madonna, Charli xcx and Heated Rivalry’s Connor Storrie were in the front row, with the celebrities scandalising the internet by smoking cigarettes before the show started. The collection continued on the slim silhouettes seen on the Milan menswear schedule. Here, models wore fitted knits, skinny-fit trousers and fitted suiting, with shoulder pads on some pieces balancing out slim pants. Madonna later performed to guests at a party held by the brand.