Latest news with #BijoyJain
The Guardian
9 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Pharrell Williams's star-studded Louis Vuitton show in Paris is worth the wait
When fashion insiders received notice on Tuesday afternoon that Pharrell Williams's Louis Vuitton show at Paris fashion week would be rescheduled to 9pm, there were collective sighs of annoyance. But all was forgiven when they arrived at the space behind the Pompidou Centre to be told that Beyoncé and Jay-Z would be attending. The star and her husband, and nephew Julez Smith, joined what was already a starry front row - which included Omar Sy, Steve McQueen, PinkPantheress, Spike Lee, Emile Smith Rowe and Victor Wembanyama. Even without a megastar, the show was worth the wait. Williams took over as creative director of menswear in June 2023 and his spring-summer 2026 collection was his best yet – with louche retro tailoring and unusual combinations such as cargo pants and a shrunken sweater. The collection excelled when performing one of luxury's current favourite tricks - making premium versions of everyday items. Here, that included a striped polo shirt, and a boxy work shirt and chinos. This look, worn with a ribbed vest, is likely to be copied by those who like fashion but lack Louis Vuitton budgets. Entitled Paris to India, Williams was inspired by what the press release called 'the multifaceted sensibilities of present-day Indian sartorialism'. In practice, the influence of India's aesthetics could be seen most clearly in ornate decoration on the trunks some models wheeled down the runway. The set of the show was created by Bijoy Jain, the founder of architects Studio Mumbai. A giant rendering of snakes and ladders – an Indian game that dates to the second century – was hand-painted on the catwalk. A track called Yaara Punjabi, co-produced by the Indian composer AR Rahman, featured on the soundtrack played by a live orchestra. If collaboration with Indian creatives gave voice to the culture that provided inspiration to a collection by a European megabrand, there were also some slightly more reductive tropes, as with the embroidered exotic animals. These made use of imagery originally created by Louis Vuitton in 2007 for Wes Anderson's The Darjeeling Limited, a film set in India but remaining, as critic Ellen E Jones wrote last year, a 'whimsically white nostalgia-world'. However, items such as striped ties were a nod to India's beloved cricket, while a trekking-adjacent backpack with camping roll felt more playful and relevant to now. The strength of this collection shows that Williams's point of view is now coming through more in his work at Louis Vuitton. For autumn-winter 2025, he collaborated with his longtime friend Nigo, who founded the streetwear brand A Bathing Ape. His skateboarding past is evident in the fact that the skater Tyshawn Jones is a Louis Vuitton ambassador and the brand's new Tilted trainer is being compared to classic Vans. Williams has consistently brought his famous friends and star power. He was co-chair of the Metropolitan Museum's Superfine exhibition, which celebrated Black style and was part-sponsored by Louis Vuitton. He dressed celebrities attending the Met Gala, including Doechii, Future, Sabrina Carpenter and Jeremy Allen White. Sign up to Fashion Statement Style, with substance: what's really trending this week, a roundup of the best fashion journalism and your wardrobe dilemmas solved after newsletter promotion Not all of Williams's work here was celebrated. The symbolism of a LV monogram on Doechii's cheek was criticised by some online. 'LOVE me some Doechii … I'm absolutely not into this European logo 'branded' on her skin for a night celebrating the labor and ingenuity of Black culture and Black men,' wrote a Threads user. This is not the first time Williams has faced some backlash at Louis Vuitton, a $1m (£734,705) bag made from crocodile skin was described as 'an insensitive declaration of global north privilege' by the fashion commentator Caryn Franklin in 2023, while his continued use of fur prompted a Peta protester at the premiere of his animated film Piece by Piece in 2024. Louis Vuitton's parent company, LVMH, reported that revenue in the group's fashion and leather goods divisions fell by 11% and 3% respectively in the first quarter of 2025. Even with these skirmishes of controversy, the brand will be hoping that Williams' combination of glitzy friends and pop culture-friendly designs will ensure an uptick in sales.
NDTV
11 hours ago
- Entertainment
- NDTV
Meet Bijoy Jain, Celebrated Architect And The Man Behind Louis Vuitton Show In Paris
Louis Vuitton's Men's Creative Director and singer, Pharell Williams posted on his Instagram handle ahead of the luxury design label's spring-summer 2026 showcase to promote the show at the Paris Fashion Week. The coveted sartorial showcase brought India to the runway, but the Happy singer opened doors into the behind-the-scenes of the show explaining how it was conceived by architect Bijoy Jain of Studio Mumbai. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Louis Vuitton (@louisvuitton) Based on Bijoy Jain's conceptualised work of art, a life-sized game of snakes and ladders transformed Place Georges Pompidou into a veritable playground that immersed the audience as players in the metaphorical construct of possibility. This stepping into global popularity and recognition for his work has made us wonder who is Bijoy Jain, after all? View this post on Instagram A post shared by Louis Vuitton (@louisvuitton) Bijoy Jain is an architect and Norman R. Foster visiting professor at Yale University. He grew up in Mumbai and studied architecture at Washington University in until the year 1990. Following this he worked at the Richard Meier office at Los Angeles and London between 1989 and 1995. The same year marked his return to Mumbai and following which he founded his own architectural firm, Studio Mumbai in 2005. He was invited by Alejandro Aravena to the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2016 and to the ETH Zurich as a guesr critic by Raphael Zuber in 2018. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Louis Vuitton (@louisvuitton) Bijoy Jain's body of work mirrors aspects of Indian and Western cultures that sets Studio Mumbai apart in a brilliant combination of tradition and modernity. Some of the notable architectural creations across India includes Amaya in Kasauli, a number of housing projects located in India that have gained international recognition. View this post on Instagram A post shared by 𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐎𝐅 𝐀 𝐏𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐎𝐇 (@pharrell) Bijoy's global projects include the 'Work-Place' at the 2010 Venice Architecture Biennale and the 'In between Architecture' at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The furniture work of Bijoy is also part of the collections of Pompidou in Paris SFMoMa, San Francisco; Lacma, Los Angeles and MAAS, Sydney. Studio Mumbai is currently working on projects in Jaipur, Nice, Zurich and Florence. The master architect, Bijoy Jain defines his passion for his architectural craft on the Studio Mumbai website saying, "My interest lies primarily in doing what I do, with care. As an architect, the way you imagine opening a door, developing a chair, designing the texture of a wall or a floor, is very important. It's about quality, about the consideration you apply to the making of something. And it's about being attentive to the environment, the materials, and the inhabitants. It has to be inclusive."
Mint
4 days ago
- Business
- Mint
How a Mumbai architect rebuilt a vineyard in France's Rhône Valley
On a visit to the Château de Beaucastel in France years ago, the first thing that struck me was how wellintegrated it was with its surroundings, how minimalistic. It is deliberately so. As Charles Perrin, fifth generation co-owner, Château de Beaucastel, explains, 'Beaucastel's identity is rooted in two things: respect for the land and quiet, patient innovation.' The reimagined Château de Beaucastel, which was inaugurated in May after an extensive renovation by Mumbai-based architect Bijoy Jain, is still rooted in that philosophy of sustainability. Château de Beaucastel is the flagship winery of the Perrin family, located in Courthézon in southern Rhône in the appellation of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. The 'new palace of the pope', as the name translates, was France's first wine appellation (which is like a tag or label to identify the region a wine originates from) given at a time when the papal seat moved from Rome to southern France from 1309-77. Famous for their discerning palates and extensive cellars, the popes sought quality and found that the rugged terroir of the region produced extraordinary, powerful wines. Besides their own extensive wine estates that include Beaucastel (since 1909) and La Vieille Ferme, the Perrins have partnered with Brad Pitt to produce super-brands Château Miraval, Champagne Fleur de Miraval and Gardener gin. But Beaucastel remains closest to their hearts. The Perrins' commitment to organic viticulture is well-documented with Jacques Perrin being one of the earliest adopters of organic farming in 1950, and biodynamic viticulture from 1974. As the Perrins' business grew, so did Beaucastel's reputation and it needed a structure that would accommodate the practical requirements of future expansion. So, in 2018, the family announced an international competition to select an architect for the renovation of the Château de Beaucastel winery. They received 1,200 entries from architects of 32 nationalities. In the end, Bijoy Jain of Studio Mumbai was awarded the project. Working with him would be former colleague Louis-Antoine Grégo of Studio Méditérranée, France. 'Grégo was at Studio Mumbai working with us on the renovation of a 16th century convent in Nice, in the south of France.... It seemed a natural progression to make a proposal for Beaucastel with this group who shared in the same sentiments towards the making of things, spaces, materials, landscapes,' says Jain. The key factor for the renewed winery was to synthesise the idea of 'terroir', the French word that encapsulates the environment in which a wine's quality is determined. Perrin's brief to the architects was simple: 'Build with what the earth gives us. Let the elements handle the energy load. Invite dialogue, not ostentation.' The new winery had to co-exist with parts of the old structure, including the original manor house constructed in the 17th century. For Jain, the challenge was to design a structure that would pay homage to the wine itself. Photo: Nicolas Facenda Perrin explains, 'Our earlier chai (the barrel room) was a workhorse but energy-hungry and too small for parcel precision (storing wines from individual plots separately before the final blending). The new wing doubles capacity yet is 80% underground, so from a distance you see vineyards and the ochre-coloured courtyard walls that mirror the old stone.' The russet boundary walls enclose the château that sits amidst the vineyards. It is constructed using the rammed earth technique—known as pisé in French—of compressed red clay mixed with recycled limestone and rubble from old Beaucastel sheds. The walls were compacted layer by layer—the veins and pebbles visible—thus fulfilling Perrin's brief: 'The new winery must grow out of the same soil that nourishes our vines.' Close to 90% of the structure was made from materials found on-site—initially from a pit 50x50 metres and 15m-deep. When the gravel ran out, rubble from old buildings was added—so the new structure was literally 'pressed' from Beaucastel's terroir without any concrete or iron, using construction techniques dating back to ancient Egypt and China. 'It was a mere displacement of landscape. No truck came in or left,' explains Jain. Grégo says, 'We took terroir, which is essentially flat and made it vertical—you can see its veins in the walls. We deconstructed parts of the old buildings that were not required, crushed the concrete into gravel, and added it to the mix.' For Jain, the challenge was to design a structure that would pay homage to the wine itself. He recalls, 'The ground, soil, wind, rain, sun were resources available in the immediacy of the landscape. We needed to use this abundance to create architecture made from the physical environment to provide a quiet resting space for the wine to evolve and achieve its full potential.' This genius loci as Jain calls it, became the vision for Beaucastel. On the energy front, electricity is generated from multiple rooftop solar panels, while cooling comes from the mighty mistral wind of the Rhône Valley, which is channelled through underground galleries via inbuilt wind towers and over an underground cistern holding gallons of water collected from the rooftops. 'Water is the basis of life so the cistern is the project's foundation and acts as a cradle for the wine,' explains Jain. 'The mistral is drawn deep into the ground and circulates above the water's surface, dropping the temperature in the cellar to an even 12 degrees centigrade through the year.' The cooled air is then distributed to the cellar spaces, while the water supplies most of the winery's needs. 'This is an integrated structure free of any mechanical device or industrial material,' says Jain. Winemaking capacity was optimised. Perrin explains, 'We insisted on gravityflow reception, individual fermenters sized to our 13 cépages (a specific blend of grapes) and 70 parcels and circulation paths that future generations can adapt without demolition. The design incorporates 91 small concrete vats, clay jars from Impruneta in Italy and larger wooden tanks that allow each plot and varietal to be vinified separately into the classic Beaucastel blend—an old dream finally realised.' Before the commencement, the Perrin family had taken Jain on a road trip to Burgundy to visit three wineries, the last being the iconic Domaine de la Romanée Conti. 'It was a misty morning at the Domaine, and we stood on a slope in the vineyards, looking down the large stone cross that symbolises the famous winery. In the distance I could see a group of people walking towards it—as if they were on a pilgrimage. It was magical, like a painting. Then we walked deep into the cellars. I remember the walls, a rock with water trickling over its surface, a gravel floor and a barrel serving as a tasting table. Bottles of DRC were opened... This experience changed me, gave me an insight into the potential of wine through the mechanics of taste. The penny dropped,' says Jain. The space is a continuing the dialogue between culture, craft and terroir. Photo: Nicolas Facenda For Grégo, the €16 million project was a huge learning. 'We had never built a winery before like this one. We studied for three years before starting construction— that took another three-and-a-half years. Longer than expected, but this was pioneering work.' Finally, the result was a collaboration of individual skill sets, says Jain, preferring to describe Studio Mumbai as one of many collaborators. Engineer Philippe Clement of French company Batiserf was, in his view, pivotal to the project. 'He ensured the material dissolves into pure architecture, while landscape artist Tom Stuart Smith was intuitive in his interpretation of the gardens, planting indigenous shrubs and trees that needed little water… The builders, masons, carpenters—each one claimed ownership of the project.' For Perrin, the project's results exceeded expectations. 'Visitors tell us the place feels timeless, as though it had always been there. But the renovation is a milestone, not an end.... In the new tasting cloisters, we plan to host artist and scientist residencies—continuing the dialogue between culture, craft and terroir that began when an Indian studio helped a Rhône family re-imagine its home.' Ruma Singh is a Bengaluru-based wine and travel writer.
