Louis Vuitton’s ‘Speedy’ is the new A-list It bag: Rihanna, LeBron James
Rev up your wardrobe with the bag everyone’s chasing this season: Louis Vuitton’s iconic Speedy
— reimagined in bold hues by Pharrell Williams during his spring 2024 debut as menswear creative
director for the French label.
And who better to rep these new status symbols than style icons Rihanna and LeBron James, who both appear in the brand’s ad campaigns (top photo)? (James also showed his signature swag rocking a green version to the Los Angeles Lakers’ season opener last year.)
Along with who is carrying this impossible-to-get bag, it’s worth noting how they’re showing it off. Instead of opting for someone to hold his bag, “Saltburn” star Jacob Elordi toted his own yellow number so that it popped against a simple white tee and jeans on his way to the Venice International Film Festival.
Rapper Lil Uzi Vert, meanwhile, rocked a green version, which he paired with a head-to-toe, pearl-trimmed’ fit, while preening and posing for shutterbugs at the 2023 BET Awards. (When was the last time anyone carried a bag that big on a red carpet?) In short: Being spotted carrying one is a flex.
While the original Speedy was designed for the jet set by Gaston-Louis Vuitton in the 1930s (in plain canvas, with no logo — the first Monogram canvas version came out in 1959), Williams’ iteration is the first to come in soft-as-butter leather, designed to melt on the lucky wearer’s arms (or person, if you opt to style it crossbody).
In an era when carrying a tiny bag has been considered luxury, Pharrell’s broken-in, everyday take on the
classic swings the sartorial pendulum back towards bigger-is-better. Catch one if you can.