Meet the fashion designer accusing Pharrell Williams and Louis Vuitton of stealing her concept

Meet Kellie Ford, an independent black fashion designer who recently accused Pharrell Williams and Louis Vuitton of stealing her designs.

The accusation followed after Willams recently debuted Louis Vuitton’s new SS24 collection in Paris – as LV’s new menswear creative director. 

She posted a series of videos on Tik Tok, claiming one of her original designs was copied and incorporated into Pharell’s new collection.

Ford also claims that her original design of an LV shopping bag was inserted into plastic and turned into a chic handbag. In a second video, the fashion designer said that in spite of her allegation, she is not going to sue Pharrell or LV, adding that she is more bothered by the “concept” she believes they stole from her.

“It ain’t about suing, it ain’t about infringement. The thing is they took the concept…The concept is the same. The concept is, the bag being a normal paper bag being worn at leisure. That’s what they did. They took the concept of the bag…. It’s the concept, not the actual bag itself,” Ford said, according to Black Enterprise.

She believes her original concept is what added “the sauce” LV supposedly “took” and added to their new menswear collection. 

In February this year, Pharrell was named the creative director of Louis Vuitton menswear, a role that was previously held by Virgil Abloh, who died in November 2021; making the singer and record producer the second black person to head the position at the French luxury house. 

Announcing his appointment in a statement, Louis Vuitton described Pharrell as a “visionary whose creative universes expand from music to art, and to fashion. The way in which he breaks boundaries across the various worlds he explores aligns with Louis Vuitton’s status as a cultural Maison, reinforcing its values of innovation, pioneer spirit, and entrepreneurship”.