adidas Men's Pharrell Williams' Consortium X Track Z97399 Jacket

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At 49, Williams could reasonably be thought of as one of hip-hop’s elder statesmen. Like Jay-Z, who is three years older, he radiates the aura of a man who has lived through the excesses of the business and come serenely out the other side. “I looked up to my big brother Jay-Z, also Puff [Daddy], you know, and at the time, they were brash with it, they let you know,” he says of his early years in music and the styling that came with them. “Because it was so hard for them to get in that when they got in, they just acted all the way up, you know, in the most luxurious way that they could. So in trying to keep up with them, that led me to be braggadocious at times.”

In a whitewashed loft apartment somewhere in lower Manhattan, Pharrell Williams is moving his hands through the air as if solving a giant floating jigsaw puzzle. “The pieces appear to you above your head,” he says, gesturing to the imaginary items that he’s using to describe his creative process. “And you go, OK, maybe this goes here, maybe that goes there.” Just like anyone else, I wore both [designer clothing and streetwear],” he notes, shaking his head. “It’s not like I discovered anything. We just did a whole lot of arguing [with those in high fashion] to get people to see that they were putting these partitions up. If you look at what pop culture was doing on its own, beyond what you could get at a retail store or a boutique, everyone was always mixing it up.” To that extent Joopiter could represent another re-evaluation: the decision of man who no longer wants, or needs, to be surrounded by his past. Today, he says he sees himself as part of a vanguard pushing to move both music and fashion forward. “You know, myself, Kanye, Virgil… we’re all on the front lines, helping to get some of those old spirits to wake up,” he says. “Woke scares people sometimes but, damn, I’d rather be woke than asleep.”

Voices Carry

Pharrell connects with everyone in the room and encourages them to think bigger than product,” Galway continues. “He takes inspiration from everywhere, whether it be globally or across the brand, and wants to create change with everything he does.” At this, Williams brings his fist to his temple, bearing the same meditative look on his face as two months prior. He changes the subject, starts talking about FaceTime. (“It’s so much better than just a voice. Right?” he says). Then, he hangs up the phone. He’s got more projects to tend to, more events to attend to promote them. Later in the evening, Williams will head to The Novo in downtown Los Angeles for a question-and-answer session and book signing of his new Rizzoli book, “A Fish Doesn’t Know It’s Wet.” It’s one of the many endeavors he takes on, which constantly vary — but without fail, they bear the signature Pharrell stamp. It’s his way of learning new things and contributing unseen narratives to the ears and eyes of the masses. Before he goes, he puts one hand on his heart. It’s a human thing to do, a way to show gratitude and connect with whoever’s on the other end of the line.

It all originates from the same taste palette. There’s an eccentricity, I think, to my taste,” he says. “That’s how I am across all senses. What I learn in one artistic discipline, I may be able to transcribe into another. What I learn in music, I might be influenced by and be able to transform and transpose it into something that is visual.Working with my collaborators, it’s like, why are we continuing to follow these old customs?” He asks. “It’s not how people think, let alone shop.