Must it be so blatant that even bags carried by stars had to be conspicuously monogrammed?

Lisa proudly showing off her LV bag. Photo: Getty Images

Lisa Manobal attended her first Met Gala two days ago. It was one among many initial steps for her these past ten months, including gracing and performing at the Oscars in March. For her debut at what had been curiously called “the Oscars of Fashion”, Ms Manoban surprised even her fans by going pant/skirt-less, revealing what many thought was a pair of panties, courtesy of Louis Vuitton. In a video ‘Inside Lisa’s First Met Gala Look’ that Vogue shared on YouTube, she said, “I could wear pants, but do we want to do that or, you know, do we want to make something more crazier (sic), more fun? And then this is what we decide (sic).” The final ensemble was a bodysuit under a cropped jacket, both of diagonally-grided lacework that featured the LV quatrefoil and logo, and faces, even on the crotch.

And that aroused the second controversy. Internet sleuths claimed that one of the faces on the garments designed by Pharrell Williams (rather than Nicolas Ghesquière, LV’s womenswear designer) was the likeness of Rosa Parks. As it turned out, it was not*. It is unlikely that the Thai singer was aware that Ms Parks was an American activist in the civil rights movement (or what Black dandyism and Black diasporic identity are), so it may not have occurred to her to ask, when she saw those faces, who the images might have represented. But she was more interested in the openwork fabric itself, even revealing in that video that it was based on the artwork of Henry Taylor, a Black artiste who painted Pharrell Williams’s portrait for the lastest cover of Vogue, dedicated to the Met’s Costume Institute exhibition Superfine: Tailoring Black Style that the Met Gala opened.

Literally logo from top to bottom, a rear view and close-up of the bottom half of Lisa’s bodysuit and her leggings. Photo: Getty Images

But the revealing underwear with the curious faces was not, to us, the attention-grabber. It was the bag Ms Manobal carried—the LV Speedy 25 from Mr William’s menswear autumn/winter 2024 collection. She did not only carry it; she posed with it, carrying the bag on her left palm, as if she was selling it on HSN (Home Shopping Newtwork). It is not clear why the ‘everyday’ Speedy is a suitable evening bag, but the monogram on the version The White Lotus star carried was encrusted with pearls. If clothing and the bag were not sufficient branding exuberance, there was the hosiery too. Ms Manobal wore black stockings that LV named, without an attempt at subtlety, ‘Monogram Takeover Tights’. She was such a corporate shill for LV, to the extent that she even needed Mr Williams to tell her what to do with her throw-on jacket when she hit the red carpet.

But the Blackpink singer was not the only one obliged to advertise for LV. Mr Williams even prostituted his wife, Helen Lasichanh, by making her wear the same ‘Monogram Takeover Tights’ and also carry a Speedy 25, but hers sported even larger motifs of the monogram. But perhaps the worst among the LV logomaniacs was Doechii. The rapper turned up in unmissable Louis Vuitton packaging, as if she just walked out of the same factory that prints the LV monogram canvas. She wore an off-white tailcoat plastered with the LV monogram and a pair of shorts (!) that had the checkered LV Damier Azur as the print, both designed by Mr Williams. Her accessories included a belt with an LV buckle and a mini Speedy with a special version of the Damier. The blatant and wholesale adoption of the logos raised one question: Does she really have style? Or was she really delighted to trade it for free clothes?

Doechii totally plastered with logos. Photo: pharrellwilliams/X

To be sure, the men, too, were happy showing off their bags, even when it was even more unusual for the guys to be carrying one at the Met Gala. The event’s co-chair and the designer of the many LV outfits worn that night, Pharrell Williams, reportedly carried a Speedy 25 Bandoulière in burgundy crocodile leather, but did not bring it out on the red carpet. However, seen on the steps of the museum were the bright-blue Speedy P9 Bandoulière on Malcolm Washington (son of Denzel Washington) and a larger version in black on the hip-hop artiste Rap Future. The men’s use of the conspicuous logo-heavy bags when male attendees usually go empty-handed aroused the belief that crass commercialism was at play—LV was trying very hard to promote merchandise even when it was known that they were the event’s marquee sponsor.

Sponsorship and the Met Gala are not strange bedfellows. It often sees attendees fully embodying the brand they represent, but the sheer noticeability and the sometimes jarring placement of logo-ed wares this year prompted us to wonder if brand engagement had become more important than theme engagement. Some observers feel that the fashion and accessories choices seen at the latest Met Gala played with the idea of pop culture and consumerism. Could it then be considered a meeting that is much a part of the male dandy that the Met Gala honoured? In a hyper-consumerist society, wearing head-to-toe logos can be seen as a commentary on or engagement with that reality. Only now, that reality includes the tariffs consumers will bear in the coming months. It’s extra cost that none of the Louis Vuitton logo-bearers, blessed with privilege and insulation, had to worry about.

*Following the controversy, the art magazine Hyperallergic stated that the facial images were that of artist Henry Taylor’s neighbours. Neither LV nor Pharrell Williams offered an explanation to why there was a need to place the likenesses of real people on Lisa’s crotch

Photos: Getty Images