Pharrell Pays Homage to Park Seo-Bo in His Latest Louis Vuitton Capsule Collection
Park Seo-Bo – a late South Korean painter and father of the Dansaekhwa artistic movement – once told the The Wall Street Journal that “Art without spirit is not art. Art has to have soul.”
How did Pharrell Williams, then, ensure that the soul of Seo-Bo's work was not lost in translation whilst creating a capsule menswear collection for Louis Vuitton that honours the artist?
Two ways: 1) by working closely with Seo-Bo's estate, and 2) by taking inspiration from the artist's former collaboration with Louis Vuitton from the 2022 ArtyCapucines project (a single handbag is still a starting point).
As anyone familiar with the artist's oeuvre would expect, a dedication to monochrome and a playful use of fine details are fundamental elements of the ready-to-wear collection. Louis Vuitton suggests that the intricacies invite “the eye to zoom in and out to discover the savoir-faire that permeates every garment and accessory”.
The hero look is undoubtedly the double-breasted red leather suit. It showcases Williams' rejigging of the luxury maison's Épi Leather – a printed calfskin originally inspired by wheat – to align with Seo-Bo's artistic style. The effect is created by hot-stamping the design atop a dark brown background.
The footwear is strong, too.
Two colourways – viz. a soft blue and a neon green – of a special-edition take on the Maxi Trainer that employs the aforementioned Épi Leather to nod to the painter.
You might call it art with sole.
The Park Seo-Bo x Louis Vuitton Fall Men’s Capsule Collection Spring-Summer 2025 is available now in Louis Vuitton boutiques and on louisvuitton.com.
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