Louis Vuitton names Williams director
Louis Vuitton has named multitalented singer-songwriter and philanthropist Pharrell Williams creative director of its menswear division, replacing the late Virgil Abloh, the company said Tuesday.
“Pharrell Williams is a visionary whose creative universes expand from music to art and to fashion — establishing himself as a cultural, global icon over the past 20 years,” the luxury house said in a statement.
The appointment is effective immediately. Williams’ first collection is scheduled to be shown during Paris Men’s Fashion Week in June. The position had been left vacant since November 2021 when Abloh died of cancer at age 41.
Williams has experience working with luxury brands and designers such as the late Karl Lagerfeld. He collaborated with the luxury group LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy) in 2004 and 2008. He had a popular sneaker collaboration with Chanel in 2017 and a unisex clothing collection in 2019 that he designed with Lagerfeld. He also has his own fashion brands, including Billionaire Boys Club and Icecream.
Jewel, Malone to perform at All-star Game:
Utah native and Grammy nominee Jewel, rapper Post Malone and actors Vin Diesel and Ben Affleck will be among the performers at this weekend’s NBA All-star events in Salt Lake City.
Jewel will perform “The Star-spangled Banner” before the All-star Game on Sunday, while Jully Black will sing the Canadian national anthem.
Diesel will be welcoming fans, and Malone will perform a medley after Lebron James and Giannis
Antetokounmpo draft their teams for the game.
The halftime show Sunday will feature three Nigerian artists — Burna Boy, Tems and Rema — doing an Afrobeatsthemed performance.
Affleck will introduce the teams before Friday’s All-star Celebrity Game.
Oprah picks ‘Bittersweet’ for book club:
Oprah Winfrey has chosen Susan Cain’s “Bittersweet” as her new book club pick.
“Bittersweet,” released last year, is the most recent work from the author of “Quiet,” the 2012 bestseller that contended introverted people had been misunderstood and overlooked.
“Susan started a revolution a decade ago with her book ‘Quiet’ about the power of being an introvert, and her latest book is a revelation on how embracing sadness and heartache can lead you to the path of creativity,
connection and even love,” Winfrey said in a statement Wednesday.
Cain noted in a statement that in “Bittersweet,” she writes of Winfrey’s “transformative” relationship with her mentor Maya Angelou, who died in 2014. “Yet I never dreamed that Oprah would read the book, let alone select it for the Oprah Book Club. This is an honor of honors,”
Cain said.
Winfrey will interview Cain for an interactive book club March 9 via Oprahdaily.com.
Singer Peggy King is 93. Model Janice Dickinson is 68. Actor Levar Burton is
66. Rapper Ice-t is 65. Guitarist Andy Taylor is 62. Actor Sarah Clarke is 51. Actor Mahershala Ali is 49. Rapper Lupe Fiasco is 41. Singer Ryan Follese is 36. Musician Danielle Haim is
34. Actor Elizabeth Olsen is 34.