Black in Style: Pharrell leverages Tyler, the Creator’s whimsy for Louis Vuitton

This week in style, the Black stars in Vanity Fair‘s annual celebration of Hollywood, Rihanna’s rumored reunion with Dior, and more.

Pharrell Williams and Tyler, the Creator are teaming up again — this time, in the name of fashion. Recently, Williams invited his fellow musical artist/designer into Louis Vuitton’s creative world for his first collaboration with the luxury fashion house. Pulling inspiration from both artists’ colorful personal styles, the capsule collection, set to launch on March 21, includes clothes and accessories featuring the “Craggy Monogram,” Tyler’s hand-drawn version of the iconic LV monogram. 

“Everything that Tyler does is thoughtful and authentic. We’ve done something completely new with this project that merges our two worlds, and the outcome is uniquely LV,” Williams told WWD. “This collection fuses our vision with Tyler’s universe through the codes of Louis Vuitton.”

In keeping with Tyler’s cult-favorite brand Golf le Fleur, his collaboration with the fashion house follows a similar aesthetic, blending his “signature preppy sophistication” with Williams’ “elegant dandy dressing.” 

Tyler is not the only new addition to the luxury brand’s roster. This week, Louis Vuitton announced NBA rookie Victor Wembanyama as its newest brand ambassador. 

“Striving for excellence and with a perpetual honing of craft, Victor joins Louis Vuitton on a journey of shared values and aligned ambitions. Like Louis Vuitton himself, the young athlete has blazed a trail, excelling in a career that is only just beginning,” Louis Vuitton said in a statement.

Rihanna’s rumored return to Dior

As Rihanna celebrated Valentine’s Day along with her 36th birthday in Paris, rumors began to swirl about another reason for the Fenty mogul’s appearance in Europe. According to Business of Fashion, the star’s Parisian excursion was possibly motivated by plans to appear in an upcoming Christian Dior campaign. While the details of the rumored collaboration remain unknown, Rihanna was spotted front row at the luxury brand’s Spring 2024 presentation during Paris Couture Week in January.  

This wouldn’t be the star’s first time collaborating with the label. In 2015, Rihanna made her debut as Dior’s first Black ambassador. To kick off the partnership, she posed for a series of campaigns and projects, including the “Secret Garden” campaign shot by Steven Klein at the Château de Versailles. Almost a decade later, Business of Fashion reports the star may have shot a new campaign with Klein in that same location. As Dior prepares to show its 2024 Fall-Winter collection next week during Paris Fashion Week, industry experts await to see if or when the brand will confirm rumors of Rihanna’s reprisal of her role. 

Colman Domingo and Da’Vine Joy Randolph cover Vanity Fair

As award season continues with the Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday, Vanity Fair just dropped its 30th annual Hollywood issue starring some of this year’s most buzzed-about stars, including actors Colman Domingo, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Lily Gladstone, Greta Lee, Jenna Ortega, Bradley Cooper, Natalie Portman, Pedro Pascal, Jodie Comer, Charles Melton, and Barry Keoghan.

Wearing eveningwear, the stars model and riff together in photos and videos from the shoot. In his profile, Domingo opens up about growing up queer and insecure, his Oscar-nominated turn as civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, his dashing style, and how he endeavors to look like “a big flirt” whenever possible. 

When asked how it feels to be Hollywood’s unofficial best-dressed male, Domingo said, “That is the coolest thing. It’s funny because I think I’ve always understood my own style. Working with my stylists, Wayman and Micah, we’ve always crafted story.”

Meanwhile, as Randolph prepares for the Oscars, where she’s nominated for Best Supporting Actress, she muses over her career highs and lows to date. Randolph told the publication that for her Golden Globe-winning performance as Mary in the sleeper hit “The Holdovers,” she brought her authentic self. 

“It would’ve been a completely different character if I would’ve done it ten years ago. I’m a bit more grounded in just telling women’s stories. When you truly understand the climate of this industry and who’s telling the stories, it’s marginalized. I’m a woman of color. And then, on top of that, a woman of color who is curvy,” she said. “Those stories don’t get told often. So I really take my time and do due diligence to tell relatable, authentic stories.”

L’Oréal Paris seeks female changemakers

L’Oréal Paris is looking to honor and highlight community trailblazers through its “Women of Worth” program. For nearly two decades, the cosmetic company’s philanthropic program has recognized and supported 180 women leading change in their communities.

“For 19 years, L’Oréal Paris Women of Worth has championed female nonprofit leaders who are addressing some of our nation’s most pressing issues,” said Ali Goldstein, L’Oréal Paris USA president, in a press release shared with theGrio. “I am continually inspired by their ability to tap into their own self-worth to create positive change in their communities.”

Now through International Women’s Day on March 8, L’Oréal Paris is accepting nominations for its 2024 “Women of Worth” cohort. With plans to accept ten honorees, the program will award each a $25,000 grant through L’Oréal Paris’ intermediary grant-maker, GlobalGiving, to support each woman’s cause and equip her with a network that will increase her community impact. 

To nominate a local changemaker or learn more about the program, visit WomenofWorth.com.

CB2’s Black in Design Collective introduces two new designers

Since Crate & Barrel’s contemporary design sister brand CB2 launched its Black in Design Collective last July, the brand has spotlighted several exciting Black designers from around the world, including its latest additions. The collective recently announced two new collaborators: leading Niger-based architect Mariam Issoufou Kamara and Nigerian designer Nifemi Marcus-Bello. Creations by each dropped on Thursday for CB2.

Kamara, who champions sustainable architecture in her native Niamey, Niger, is known for three-dimensional architectural pieces inspired by West Africa’s past. This aesthetic can be seen in the vase Kamara designed for the collective, a bronze vessel that is modern and structural in design but based on African clay jars.

While known to work with sheet metal, the Lagos-based Marcus-Bello told WWD he experimented with Italian marble for CB2’s collection. The results include a stately marble dining table that comes in both white and black. 

“Marble is a material that I respect. I wanted to do something very classic that would be long-lasting. And again, sustainable so that it can be passed out from one generation to another versus something you’re gonna chuck out in 20 years,” Marcus-Bello said.

Revisit the Harlem Renaissance at The Met

Starting Sunday, you will be able to transport yourself back in time to the Jazz Age and the Harlem Renaissance by paying a visit to the Metropolitan Museum in New York. “Harlem Renaissance and Transatlantic Modernism,” an exhibition that includes 160 works of painting, sculpture, photography, film, and ephemera from the era, including pictures by Black photographer James Van Der Zee, opens Feb. 25 and runs through July 28.  

Among several narratives this exhibition will revisit, Black style as it emerged during that era remains a central theme. 

“Fashion, the act of adornment, in this moment in American history [was] central to creating a new script for Black folks,” writer and art critic Jessica Lynne, who hosts The Met’s accompanying podcast “Harlem Is Everywhere,” told WWD. 

She continued, “It’s important to also say that, of course, Black folks knew that our dignity was inherent and inevitable and not a thing to be earned. But the gesture and presentation on a public stage really [do] rearticulate, especially for non-Black folks, an assertion of dignity. And certainly, that was a very radical position to take.”

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