Pharrell Williams couldn't help but call Marc Jacobs "the GOAT" during their recent sitdown on the System magazine webseries "System Stories."
Around the 2-minute mark of the video below, Williams detailed how Jacobs invited him to collaborate on the Millionaire Sunglasses in 2004, which became the Virginia native's LV debut.
"I can't believe that you fucking gave me a shot, man," Williams shared.
He continued, "I'm literally pinching myself all the time. But I'm just saying, like, it had never happened before. Sure, like, you know, fashion brands, corporations, designers, they would send clothes to people in music, and send clothes to people in rap music, specifically. But nobody ever said 'come in and do something.' You opened the doors for us and then you held the doors open.“
The heartfelt moment left Jacobs somewhat speechless. "I didn't know how to do it any other way," he said. "That's just the reality of it."
Williams' praise for Jacobs continued throughout the chat, but the New York City-born designer returned the favor, explaining why he introduced Williams to LV in 2004.
"It all just felt like the right thing to do," he said. "It wasn't like, 'I'm gonna look back on this, or people are gonna look back on this and say...' It was exciting being here and it was exciting trying to figure out and define and keep an open mind about the possibilities of what Louis Vuitton could be."
He continued, "Because that was the mindset, and because you are you, and the time was what it was, creativity, everything, it worked beautifully."
Using his position to usher in Williams, the artist-designer called Jacobs' openess a "perception of magic." As for assuming the men's creative director role at LV last year, Williams emotionally gave credit to Jacobs for jumpstarting his impact with the brand.
"It's a bit emotional for me to see you, because you started this, man," Williams said around the 29-minute mark. "You built this house, and you knocked down the first domino that got me to this place."
Williams is now paying it forward to LV's next generation, as he recently brought on Tyler, the Creator to design a new men's capsule.
