Jumbo tidal wave cascades through Louis Vuitton show in Paris

Louis Vuitton creative director Pharrell Williams designed a 37-metre-wide wave structure as the scenography for the French fashion house’s Spring Summer 2027 menswear show, which was powered by water from Paris’s aquatic network.

The presentation took place on Tuesday within an open-air space at the French capital’s Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris, where Louis Vuitton men’s creative director Williams installed an eight-by-37-metre overlapping structure that produced a cycle of water.

Against the backdrop of Paris’s hottest day on record, the result was a continuously cresting wave, which formed a dramatic piece of set design for the fashion show.

Williams sourced the water from Eau de Paris, the city’s public water system. It circulated through a closed circuit during the show, before being drained back into Paris’s sewers.

Below the wave, a winding catwalk was constructed using sand, which has now been donated to beach volleyball courts at the university.

Front row seating was formed from simple rows of low-slung, rectilinear timber benches, placed atop more sand. The benches were repurposed from Louis Vuitton’s Autumn Winter 2026 show.

When conceiving the set design, Williams wanted to pay homage to “the distinctive dress codes” of the surfing community that informed his collection.

Models meandered through the misted landscape in looks ranging from technical wetsuits and performance-enhancing tailoring to garments featuring acid colours and checkerboard motifs.

The entrance to the show was anchored by a surf-style silver camper van, also created by Williams.

Since becoming the fashion house’s men’s creative director in 2023, Williams has steadily made a name for himself with his expressive set designs.

In January, he conceived a minimalist prefabricated timber house for Louis Vuitton’s Autumn Winter 2026 menswear show in Paris. Last year, Williams collaborated with Studio Mumbai founder Bijoy Jain to produce an oversized snakes-and-ladders board for the brand’s Spring Summer 2026 menswear show, which was constructed in front of Paris’s Centre Pompidou.

The photography is courtesy of Louis Vuitton.

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