Pharrell opens Vuitton’s monogram anniversary year with cinematic menswear show

PARIS (AP) — Pharrell Williams opened a celebration year for Louis Vuitton's monogram — marking the house’s 130th anniversary of its most recognizable signature — with a Fall-Winter 2026 men’s show that was equal parts brand pageant and movie set.

Inside the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris, the guests encircled the grassy runway.

At its center sat a glass-walled, minimalist apartment — part bedroom, part display box — where models kept entering and exiting like characters crossing movie scenes.

It was also a celebrity-heavy room, with a front row mixing music, film and online fame — SZA, Usher, Future, Jackson Wang and others, plus a runway debut to seal the crossover: BamBam of Korean boy band GOT7.

The soundtrack did as much scene-setting as the set.

A gospel choir and full orchestra performed live from the balconies, lifting what could have been a straightforward runway lap into something closer to a staged sequence: romantic, controlled, faintly grand.

On the clothes, Williams stayed inside his Vuitton DNA: readable from a distance, richer up close, and always tethered to the idea of travel and the house’s heritage goods.

This season’s lens was 1970s ease spiked with utility. The palette sat firmly in autumn-tonal grays, browns, black, denim, cream — then broke into jolts of bubblegum pink, baby blue and emerald green that kept the mood from turning too polite.

It was Vuitton in full brand mode: monogram year messaging, hero outerwear, high-gloss accessories, and a set built for cameras.

Silhouettes ran long and loose, with baggier trousers that swung into an A-line sweep; suits were often topped with parka coats, a high-low collision that has become one of his signatures.

The details — always his style argument — did the work.

Shirts flashed with glimmering surfaces.

Bows and jabot-style collars delivered the 70s note without going costume.

Utility came through in the hardware language: ties, toggles, belts, zippers; faux-fur collars that read both functional and decorative.

Patent Oxford shoes added a hard, glossy punctuation under the softer shapes.

A monogrammed puffer arrived as the obvious anniversary-era hero item.

Williams also pushed a slightly “undone” finish — wrinkled tops that looked intentionally lived-in rather than sloppy — while widening the fit menu beyond the season’s broader swing toward slimness: skin-tight knits, cleanly fitted suits and oversized tailored shorts.

Then came the Vuitton wink at travel as culture-object: an Art Nouveau travel case in stained glass, rolled through on a trolley — absurd, beautiful, and perfectly on-message for a house that still sells the idea of departure as luxury.

Designer Pharrell Williams accepts applause after the Louis Vuitton Fall/Winter 2026-2027 Men's collection presented in Paris, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla)

A model wears a creation as part of the Louis Vuitton Fall/Winter 2026-2027 Men's collection presented in Paris, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla)

A model wears a creation as part of the Louis Vuitton Fall/Winter 2026-2027 Men's collection presented in Paris, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla)

Models wear creations as part of the Louis Vuitton Fall/Winter 2026-2027 Men's collection presented in Paris, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla)

Models wear creations as part of the Louis Vuitton Fall/Winter 2026-2027 Men's collection presented in Paris, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla)

HOUSTON (AP) — The start of Houston’s game against San Antonio on Tuesday night was delayed for 22 minutes because a player bent a rim before tipoff and it had to be replaced.

The Spurs were inspecting it during introductions and soon a maintenance crew came out and placed a level on the rim before beginning to work on it. Three people on ladders worked on the rim for a few minutes before the Spurs left the court and returned to the locker room about eight minutes after the game was scheduled to tip off.

A few Rockets remained on the floor warming up on the unaffected basket during the delay, but most of the Rockets also went to the locker room..

After a few minutes workers took the rim off and replaced it.

The Spurs returned to the court about 10 minutes after leaving, and the ladders were removed from the court and San Antonio began to warm up again.

The Rockets who had left returned soon after that and four minutes was put on the clock to allow both teams to warm up before the game tipped off.

There was a second brief delay with about nine minutes remaining in the game when the same rim was checked again. A worker got on a ladder and placed a level on the rim and took a picture with his phone. After showing an arena official and a referee the picture, apparently showing that the rim was level, the ladders were removed and play resumed.

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The San Antonio Spurs leave the court as crews replace a damaged hoop before an NBA basketball game against the Houston Rockets in Houston, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)