Louis Vuitton’s Friendship Travels Well, Even in Bangkok

Paris may be Louis Vuitton’s spiritual home, but the maison has never confined itself to its birthplace. From the very beginning, travel defined its identity, starting in 1858 with the now-iconic flat-topped trunk, made to be stacked, carried, and moved across continents. That first innovation set the tone for everything that followed, establishing Louis Vuitton as a house built on movement.

Under Pharrell Williams, that same pulse still beats 171 years later after Louis Vuitton’s storied beginnings. Since stepping into the role of Men’s Creative Director in 2023, he has made this ethos feel more vital than ever. “I’m personally a global citizen, so I’m always gonna give reverence to a place that’s inspired me,” he said as per WWD ahead of the Spring Summer 2026 show.

It’s a sentiment that has led him and the maison to Bangkok for the restaging of the Trunk Show for Louis Vuitton Men’s Fall Winter 2025. However, unlike his visit to Mumbai in search of visual cues for Spring Summer 2026, this stop in Southeast Asia is not a search for visual references.

Instead, it’s about selecting a location that already embodies the collection’s values. Co-designed with longtime collaborator Nigo, the collection is rooted in friendship — a spirit that lives on in Bangkok. In a city shaped by collectivism, warmth, and shared belonging, it feels like the most natural stage for the collection’s second act.

The collection, titled “Remember The Future”, collapses past and present through the interplay of old and new materials — true to Nigo’s design language, honed across A Bathing Ape, Human Made, and now Kenzo. His personal touch finds organic synergy with Pharrell’s instinct for injecting vibrancy and reimagining heritage through a contemporary lens, resulting in a collection that draws the best of both creatives.

But beyond fabric and form, the collection’s resonance in Bangkok deepens through the maison’s decision to stage it there, drawing a line between Paris, the city Louis Vuitton calls home, and the one it now steps into.

Krung Thep (colloquial), the City of Angels, does not echo Paris in imitation; it answers it in tone. Where Parisian elegance leans into restraint and romance, Thai elegance expresses itself through exuberance, generosity, and colour. One chisels icons in marble; the other cultivates closeness through warmth and presence.

That contrast plays out in how the collection is staged. Held at One Bangkok, the Trunk Show mirrored its Paris debut, with Masamichi Katayama’s set reimagined for new light, scale, and texture. Here, it took on new meaning, shaped by a guest list of Thailand’s most recognisable stars, in a city where stardom is often born through collaboration and shared beginnings.

It’s a dynamic that reflects the creative bond between Pharrell and Nigo — a partnership rooted in trust, friendship, and time. In Thailand’s beloved BL industry, fame rarely unfolds in isolation. Many rise through onscreen pairings grounded in real-life camaraderie, where storytelling is relational and fandom thrives on connection.

That night, figures like Fourth Nattawat, Gemini Norawit, Off Jumpol, Mario Maurer, Tor Thanapob, Jaylerr, Jaonaay Jinjett, and Paris Intarakomalyasut filled the front row — a line-up defined by chemistry and collective ascent. In this context, Louis Vuitton’s guest list became a nod to the spirit of creative partnership the collection was built.

This is not the maison’s first appearance in the Thai capital. In 2022, Louis Vuitton brought the late-Virgil Abloh’s Fall-Winter 2022 Men’s Spin-Off show, Louis Dreamhouse², to Bangkok. The show was a reflection of Virgil’s vision, which expanded the brand through scale, spectacle, and youthful energy. But every era has its emotional register. Under Pharrell, the lens softens. His gaze shifts inward, centering intimacy, community, and the emotional texture of the place he chose to arrive in.

Fall Winter 2025 and its return to Bangkok marks a shift in what Louis Vuitton now articulates: not only heritage or aspiration, but connection. Between cities and collaborators, yes, but more meaningfully, with the communities that receive and reflect it. If Louis Vuitton continues to bring its collections not just where they will be seen, but where they will also be felt, then the maison’s journey is far from over. The world is open. It’s only a matter of what the next destination is.

This article was first seen on Men’s-Folio.

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