Dear Pharrell, We Heart You

<3 <3 <3 This one gets three hearts!
Who wears a G-Shock watch, Spongebob Squarepants socks “with the toes” and a purple bowtie all at the same time and it just seems to work? I’ve already seen Kanye West and Kid Cudi wearing bowties, but Pharrell did it first, back in 2004. He did a Vogue spread around this time called “Vogue: Man of the Moment” touting a prepped-out Marc Jacobs cardigan, a Hermes V-Neck Pullover over a crispy, starched collared shirt, gray and white vertical striped creased pants and to top it off, leather sneakers in powdery turquoise, cream, white and brown (from his own BAPE collection, ofcourse). He’ll usually be found wearing his own line of Billionaire Boys Club jeans, t-shirt or hoodie, with his custom jeweled carabiner holding a luxury car key (an extremely serious luxury car by the way) hanging from his beltloop. He’s a man of many looks. How can one person be so true to themself, consistent, yet still evolving, and ahead of the curve all at once? As Vogue said, he clearly has “Zeitgeist instincts.” He starts a trend, effortlessly pushes it through the channels, and it gels. He’s a marketer’s dream, an advertiser’s helper. He’s like the Oprah of the artsy-fartsy, sub-culture, modern hipster genre.
I love this article in Spread Artculture… it has a similar tone of the cover he did for Nylon “Guys” in March, 2009, entitled “Is there anything Pharrell Williams Can’t Do?” Here, he’s clad in a cardigan, slim-fitting in blue and turquoise, on top of a silk turquoise shirt trimmed in purple (probably to match his custom $80K Hermes purple Birkin croc bag) as the backdrop of his gray silk tie – all by Gucci. The look is sealed with slim -fitting khaki pants by Lanvin and flawless white tennis shoes by Versace.
As noted in both the Nylon article as well as this more current mention in Spread ArtCulture, the fashion and designing side of him is one of many facets. Last year, he introduced his ‘Perspective Chair” to the world, which sold out of the renowned Emmanuel Perrotin Gallery for the price of a car. Just this past summer, his work was featured at Art Basel, a collaborative piece with Tokyo’s Takashi Murakami and Jacob the Jeweler. It’s rumored to have sold within thirty minutes for three million. He may deny being an “artist” but he sure is creatively executing an artist’s dream.
Speaking of artist, he’s paving avenues for aspiring young artists through his social network, ARTST.com. The site opens doors for young talent of all genres to be discovered: dance, film, music, photography, illustration, painting, even installations. The categories embrace every artist.
Of course he is on top of his duty for a greener earth! He’s a partner of Bionic Yarn textile firm, which creates environmentally sustainable fabrics, while supporting causes for Live Earth and Children’s hospital. And no, he hasn’t done this over the course of ten years…more like two.
I haven’t begun to mention the style of music he introduced to R&B and pop over the last fifteen years. A survey in August 2003 found that his production team, the Neptunes (partnered by Chad Hugo) produced almost twenty percent of songs played on British radio at the time, while a survey in the US had them at forty-three percent. His stamp re-surges and creates careers for the likes of the pop-star, (Justin Timberlake, Brittany Spears and Gwen Stefani). If they are “big” in music, chances are, Pharrell had something to do with the hit that helped make their career successful. The influence he has on N*E*R*D fans is unrelenting and limitless. Talk about loyalty! His band has been touring all over the world, discovering that their fans are his “mini-me’s” and emanating creativity from their own fingertips. He attracts artists, thinkers and the connoisseur. Stay tuned for his musical composition for an animated film and skateboarding movie. He’s acted in indie films too, people. He has even created a mold for a candle…

If it’s great, Pharrell Williams more than likely had something to do with it. He’s making it hard for other men to stand out. I forgot to mention in this long-form, pretty resume that I’m writing that he’s super humble, honest, sincere and one of the nicest people I have ever met. He’s pretty hilarious too.

I agree with you 100%, Style Pantry. We <3 Pharrell Williams, our Renaissance man.