LV Creative Director Pharrell Williams faces criticism for his new sneaker, which fans say copies the Vans Authentic
Pharrell Williams has faced a staunch backlash from consumers and one company in particular. The music producer-turned-creative director for LVMH unveiled a “new” sneaker called the Louis Vuitton Combi, and let’s just say it looks familiar, to say the least.
The Controversy
The shoe features an unremarkable design with two-piece uppers and midfoot stitching, and will be released in several colourways sporting the iconic LV monogram. However, we’re yet to discover how popular it will be, given its lack of idiosyncrasies.
Designer clothing is usually purchased for one of two reasons: quality or branding. In this case, the design borrows heavily from another iconic brand — Vans, whose flagship sneaker is their signature Authentic design, a staple of skate culture.
Vans noticed the similarities, prompting them to respond via social media with a simple “Ohhhh bet” as well as a reference to a Pharrell-produced track, “Mr. Me Too,” for hip-hop duo Clipse: “Wanna know the time? Better clock us”.
Fan Backlash
Fellow designer and creative director Tyler, The Creator, waded in on the discussion, claiming the deck-shoe style predates Vans, pointing to brands such as PRO-Keds and Converse. His argument is that the design is more of a tradition than just a straight bite, but the internet has thoughts on this.
One fan on Instagram said: “man, those are so ugly,” while in the same thread, a user quipped “running out of ideas” and “rip-off”. Another jokingly remarked, “waiting for Vans to release exotic leather authentics — win for the culture”.
In the past, Pharrell has been accused of being too derivative, with sneakerheads pointing to his Adidas collaboration as proof, citing his Humanrace/Samba variations as essentially material swap-outs that are too similar to existing designs. That said, Nike has coasted on the same carbon copy silhouettes for decades.
While the deck shoe plimsoll is much older than Vans, the truth of the matter is that this Louis Vuitton iteration from Pharrell fails to render any significant ideation. Once again, the lab is running on empty; Williams is a director who is far from creative and whose transition into fashion is far from a hit-the-ground-running story. This is peak Pharrell, and that’s not a good thing.
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