Giant snakes and ladders board designed as "perfect metaphor for life" at Louis Vuitton Pompidou show

Studio Mumbai founder Bijoy Jain has collaborated with Louis Vuitton creative director Pharrell Williams to create a giant snakes and ladders board for the brand's Spring Summer 2026 menswear show in Paris.

The show was staged with the Centre Pompidou as its backdrop, which recently closed for a five-year renovation.

The square in front of the Centre Pompidou, which was designed by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers, was transformed into a vast game board that aimed to reflect both cultural symbolism and human connection.

Originating in ancient India, snakes and ladders was conceived as a metaphor for life's moral journey.

Jain's set aimed to draw on this symbolism while exploring themes of well-being, nature and consciousness.

Constructed entirely in wood, the installation was hand-painted with a grid of lime lines and five serpent figures drawn in raw pigments.

"The set design – a 1:1 wood model – is rendered and coloured with a clay slip of burnt umber pigment," said Jain.

"White lines of lime are struck with a taut string to create a chequerboard pattern, framed in the centre of the space," he continued.

"Five serpents, varying in size and movement, are hand-drawn and painted… a cosmic map set in the piazza of Centre Pompidou in Paris."

The collaboration formed part of Williams' ongoing exploration of design and global cultural references within his tenure as creative director of menswear at Louis Vuitton.

"I've admired Studio Mumbai's work for years," said Williams.

"India has always inspired me – it's where snakes and ladders was born, and the game felt like the perfect metaphor for life: the climbs, the falls, the lessons," he continued.

"I imagined the set as a living board – something more than a stage, something symbolic and alive."

Jain's set formed a scenographic counterpoint to the collection itself, which reflected India's influence on contemporary menswear through tactile fabrics, layered silhouettes and spiritual references.

As models navigated the giant game board, their clothing echoed the collection's broader themes of the interplay of chance and intention, tradition and modernity, city and nature.

Williams was appointed creative director of Louis Vuitton Men's in 2023, succeeding the late Virgil Abloh.

Best known as a music producer, he has long worked across fashion, art, and design — from founding the streetwear label Billionaire Boys Club with Nigo to collaborations with Louis Vuitton and Chanel.

Other recent runway set designs featured on Dezeen include a show with a cabin "reminiscent of architectural models" for Prada and a catwalk lined with animal-shaped beanbags lines for Bottega Veneta.

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