The birds scattered in every direction as the first drumbeat thundered across the plaza outside Paris' Pompidou Center Tuesday, clearing the way for a different kind of flight: Beyonce and Jay-Z swept into the front row.
The star couple anchored a guest list at Pharrell Williams' latest Louis Vuitton spectacle that doubled as a map of contemporary culture now: Bradley Cooper, J-Hope, Karol G, Pinkpanthress, Future, Pusha T, Jackson Wang, Bambam, Mason Thames, Miles Caton, D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Malcolm Washington, Jalen Ramsey, and AAP Nast. If there was any question about the gravitational pull of Louis Vuitton under Williams, it evaporated before the first look hit the runway.
This was no ordinary catwalk: Williams - half showman, half pop impresario - staged a cultural passage from Paris to Mumbai, fusing Indian tradition and modern dandyism into a punchy, sunstruck vision of the Vuitton man in 2026.
In Vuitton's world, a show is never just a show. It's a takeover, a mood. On Tuesday, the Pompidou's iconic colored pipes served as a sci-fi backdrop for a set dreamed up with Studio Mumbai architect Bijoy Jain: a lifesize "Snakes and Ladders" board, alluding to both the child's game and the adult risks of fashion's global game. For Williams, the house's mantra of travel is less about destination, more about movemen. Up, down, sideways, sunward.
The clothes? This season, they marched to their own drumbeat. Out came models in Indian-style chunky sandals, striped boxy shorts and blue preppy shirts with sleeves billowing like monsoon sails. Silken cargo pants shimmered in the sun pin-striped puffers added a louche, almost Bollywood-kitsch edge. Cricket jerseys appeared with jeweled collars or - why not? - a puffy hood dripping with rhinestones. Blue pearlescent leather bombers flirted with the bling of Mumbai's film sets, while pin-striped tailoring riffed on both the British Raj and Parisian boulevardiers.