Louis Vuitton Is Kicking off Its Football Era
Louis Vuitton stepped on to the pitch with its Spring/Summer 2025 presentation by unveiling a large range of football-inspired garments, sneakers, and accessories.
Pharrell saddled up his horse and traded in his skateboard for some soccer cleats to kick off Louis Vuitton's latest seasonal collection on green Damier chequed turf. Who could have ever imagined that the creative director of Louis Vuitton Menswear would also be vying for the EURO 2024 trophy this summer?
But seriously, these Louis Vuitton looks inspired by "the world's game" align with the title of Pharrell's latest collection: “Le monde est à vous” or "the world is yours." And with Wales Bonner adidas Samba sneakers constantly hitting field goals, Louis Vuitton's soccer cleat arrives on the field at the right time.
Yes, crank up Tinashe's "Nasty" because this is another high fashion football sneaker with some hot girl tongue out. This shoe, dubbed the LV Footprint Soccer, comes shortly after Martine Rose sent down a pair of Air Max Tiempos for her Spring/Summer 2025 show in Milan—sorry fellas, it's not an official Nike collaboration.
Granted that we're seeing a lot of hybrid football sneakers with big floppy tongue action at these Spring/Summer 2025 shows, Louis Vuitton is kicking the ball a bit further by going beyond footwear.
Some of the biggest standouts from Louis Vuitton's Spring/Summer 2025 collection were a range of leather garments crafted out of LV soccer balls. It low key looks like designs LV would have made after Pharrell invited Nicole McLaughlin to its atelier, which isn't a super farfetched notion considering P wrote the foreword for the upcycling queen's self-titled book.
Of course, this is far from being the first time we've seen Louis Vuitton lean into football. The French luxury house has designed the travel trunk for the FIFA World Cup Trophy several times since 2010. And collections thematically tied to the FIFA World Cup have explored football-inspired designs before. It's worth noting that Louis Vuitton subtly referenced its long history with the world's game by releasing a leather handbag within its Spring/Summer 2025 line that's shaped like a soccer ball.
The bag is a direct reference to an accessory Louis Vuitton designed over 25 years ago that commemorates France hosting the 1998 World Cup. It's not just a piece of Louis Vuitton's history (that Rihanna happens to own) but marks a foundational year for the brand, since 1998 was when LV first introduced a ready-to-wear collection by Marc Jacobs.
Whether you think these football-inspired Louis Vuitton pieces scored a goal or hit a crossbar that just missed the net, there's no denying that Pharrell is keeping that ball rolling at Louis Vuitton.
