DUBAI: Danish model Mona Tougaard attended the celebrity-packed outdoor Louis Vuitton show in Paris, which was musician-turned-designer Pharrell Williams’ first runway as the men’s creative director at the French luxury fashion house. For the latest updates, follow us on Instagram @arabnews.lifestyle The model — who is of Turkish, Somali and Ethiopian descent — wore an oversized purple set, white sneakers and a pearl necklace as she took in the brand’s menswear Spring/Summer 2024 collection. Tougaard was joined by US Palestinian model Fai Khadra, Romanian Jordanian footwear designer Amina Muaddi and British Oscar winner Riz Ahmed. A long list of A-list celebrities sat front row included Beyonce, Jay-Z, Kim Kardashian, Zendaya, LeBron James, Rihanna, A$AP Rocky, Jared Leto and Kelly Rowland. In a show that further anchored the LVMH-owned label in popular culture, models strode across the gold-painted runway to live music. They paraded pearl-embellished tracksuits, furry outerwear and sparkling jackets with the label’s signature checkmark pattern, in all colors and sizes, including shades of camouflage. A couple of souped-up karts even made their way down the catwalk carrying piles of classic Vuitton luggage. The soundtrack made its way from stately classical music to full-blown gospel disco. Crowds gathered along the Seine River, craning for a glimpse of the looks, which continued LV’s approach of mixing street style with luxury. “I’m the second Black man to ever experience this on the planet, the biggest fashion house in the world,” Williams said in an interview before the show, referring to the role he has held since February. Best known as the singer and writer of pop hits “Happy” and “Blurred Lines,” the 50-year-old Williams ended months of speculation by filling the shoes of his friend Virgil Abloh, who held the job from March 2018 until his death in November 2021. Abloh had been the industry’s highest-profile Black designer. “The idea was to instill the idea that Louis Vuitton is also the master of tailoring of a dandy man who wants to be somewhat more elegant,” Vuitton CEO Pietro Beccari said of his brief to Williams. “That was not difficult because that’s him. ... What you see on the catwalk is Pharrell, multiplied by 70 looks.”