This is an AI podcast based on the academic article "Theorizing the Third Generation of Fashion Designers: The Case of Pharrell Williams at Louis Vuitton" by Liroy Choufan (2024). 

The podcast delves into the implications of celebrity-driven fashion brands in the 21st century. Initially, it traces the evolution of the first generations of traditional fashion designers from the 19th and 20th centuries, highlighting how designers serve as a simplified reference point, as they aggregate the intricate processes of fashion creation under a public persona. Subsequently, employing a close reading and visual analysis methodology, I examine the case of musician Pharrell Williams in his role as creative director at Louis Vuitton. I argue that celebrities taking on roles as fashion designers represent a new generation in this field. This shift is an inevitable culmination of the “celebrification” that traditional designers have undergone over the years. I further argue that celebrity-driven brands introduce a diverse offering in terms of taste, experience, and image. By integrating fashion with entertainment, celebrities enable brands like Louis Vuitton to reorganize as a “Cultural Maison.” These celebrities, outsiders penetrating high-end fashion, exploit the so-called democratic and hybrid logic of social media and gradually overshadow the cultural significance of traditional designers, pushing them behind the scenes. This shift challenges and may even redefine our understanding of what constitutes the cultural role of fashion designers.

The article has been published in the Fashion Theory journal. Please note that the AI podcast has oversimplified some of the arguments..

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1362704X.2024.2343148