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Much more than 'Happy': the 50 years of Pharrell Williams, musician, film producer and father of triplets

2023-04-05T05:09:12.213Z


The singer, designer and producer has a long resume filled with musical achievements and business successes. In both the music and fashion industries, his mission is to stand up against the establishment.


Born on April 5, 1973 in Virginia Beach (Virginia, USA), Pharrell Williams turns 50 on April 5.

And, in this half century of life, the versatile singer, who started his career in the nineties with the group The Neptunes and whose fame exploded thanks to the success of songs like Happy in 2013, can already say that he has lived long enough

to

leave your footprint in more than one industry.

Among other things, he has become a decorated R&B artist, a music producer, a founder of cosmetic brands, the father of four children and, most recently, has been appointed creative director of Louis Vuitton's men's line. .

1. Luxury at your feet

On February 14, the luxury house Louis Vuitton announced that the

Blurred Lines singer

became the new creative director of its men's line, replacing the designer Virgil Abloh, who died in November 2021. The news was shared through a post on the brand's Instagram profile: “Louis Vuitton is delighted to welcome welcome Pharrell Williams as the new creative director for the menswear line.

The first collection of his will be released next June during the men's fashion week in Paris ”.

Therefore, in just two months you will be able to see the expected novelties of the creative of one of the most important fashion brands in the world, with which he already collaborated in 2004 and 2008. But he has taken many previous steps to reach one of the most sought-after positions of the fashion industry.

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2. Family ties

Born Pharrell Lanscilo Williams on April 5, 1973, he is the eldest of three siblings, all of whom were Carolyn Williams and Pharoah Williams.

His mother was a teacher with a Ph.D. in Education, and his father worked as a handyman.

Always close to his family, in 2017 he and his parents started The Williams Family Kitchen, a project that started with them creating and selling family recipes at Dean & DeLuca supermarkets to give his father, an expert in the kitchen, his moment. to shine.

As revealed by Williams in one of the supermarket stores in the Thai city of Bangkok: "My father's recipes are so good that my whole family is addicted."

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Williams grew up in Virginia Beach, where he attended Princess Anne High School, at which time he was part of a musical group along with his friend Chad Hugo.

Both would later form The Neptunes, which would make the duo one of the biggest hip hop and R&B producers of the first decade of the 2000s, working alongside big stars like Justin Timberlake, Gwen Stefani and Madonna.

In the late 1990s, along with drummer Shay Haley, they also founded the musical group NERD with Williams as lead singer.

The artist, who enrolled at Northwestern University in Evanston (Illinois), would end up dropping out after two years to pursue his musical career.

In 2002, NERD released their first album

In Search of

...

3. Large family

Jealous of his private life, he is the father of six-year-old triplets, born in 2017. Williams also has an older son, Rocket Ayer Williams,

15 years old.

All four are the result of his relationship with the designer and model Helen Lasichanh, whom he married in 2013. In an interview with the American presenter Oprah Winfrey in 2014 about the success of his song Happy, the singer explained the story behind this

choice

. so curious for the name of his eldest son.

Metaphorically, it was for Stevie Wonder's

Rocket Love

, Elton John's

Rocket Man

, and

Herbie Hancock's

Rockit .

All my favorite musicians.

And also, because

rocket

(rocket, in Spanish) represents what he wants for his first child: "We named it after a machine built by men to ascend."

Until now, the couple, who have never shared many details about their personal lives, have not revealed the names of the triplets.

But Williams has not been shy about revealing the admiration he felt when he saw his wife become the mother of three children.

In an interview with Jimmy Fallon in 2017, shortly after her birth, the singer admitted: “My wife is everything.

I can't say enough about the ladies.

All the burdens they bear and the gifts [referring to the children] as well.

I love you darling".

4. Cosmetics for everyone

The fact that the rapper is turning 50 may come as a surprise to many, especially given his youthful appearance.

Another reason may be because of his impeccable skin.

He has always taken care of her, and religiously follows a simple routine, what he calls "the three-minute facial."

His daily ritual consists of cleansing, exfoliating and moisturizing.

This philosophy was the foundation from which she launched her own cosmetics line, Humanrace, in 2020. Her mission was to create a makeup brand accessible to all races, genders, and even people with low vision—the labels of their cosmetic products are printed in braille.

From his website, he makes it clear what his mission is, because for him his brand “does not differentiate between races or genders”: “We are here to create for human beings;

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5. Music Star

Pharrell's is a long-distance career, but it is worth noting the main reason for which he is known: his musical journey.

He is undoubtedly one of the figures that has contributed the most to hip hop and R&B culture.

His fame exploded after the release of his song

Happy, the huge hit from the

Despicable Me 2

(2013) soundtrack

and the first song, since Eminem's

Lose Yourself

(2002), to be nominated for an Oscar while also occupying the first positions in the Billboard Hot 100, the American

ranking

of most popular songs.

At the Oscars,

Happy

ended up losing to

Let It Go,

from

Frozen

, another worldwide musical hit.

Happy

's triumph

was undoubtedly due to the fact that it was a project from the heart.

Williams, who owns 13 Grammy Awards, was emotional when discussing the single with Oprah in that 2014 interview. After seeing the phenomenon that had occurred after the release of the music video, the first with a playlist created specifically for listening to it and seeing him for 24 hours, the singer expressed through tears:

“I am overwhelmed with gratitude, I appreciate that people have believed in me for so long to be able to get to this point and feel the impact this song has had.”

His other big hit

Blurred Lines

(2013)

It doesn't give you the same feeling.

After the controversy that arose from the lyrics, which for the vast majority degrade women, Williams agreed with them six years later: "I realized that there are men who use that same language when they take advantage of a woman, and not It doesn't matter if that's not my behavior or my way of thinking, it just matters how it affects women."

6. From the iconic hat to the 600 diamond belts

His role in the development of hip hop and R&B is not limited to his musical productions either.

Whether it's their famous wide-brimmed hats, their

From eye-catching gold pendants and colored gemstones to belt buckles studded with more than 600 diamonds, Pharrell has been one of the most influential figures in hip hop for nearly 30 years.

This was made clear by the Council of Designers of America (CFDA) when they named him a Fashion Icon of 2015. The CFDA award recognizes the style of someone who has had a significant impact internationally, and few images have turned the world around so much. world like Pharrell and the famous hat designed by Vivienne Westwood, which he ended up auctioning for 40,000 euros on Oscar night.

His jewelry, more than an ornament, was another mechanism through which the rapper innovated in fashion.

According to Jacob Arabo, a jeweler who has worked for many celebrities, Williams has been a revolutionary in the world of jewelry since the early 2000s, as he stated in a YouTube video: "He was the first to introduce colored stones into his parts.

At that time, no one in his realm was wearing colored diamonds.”

At a time when pink or yellow diamonds were only found in high jewelry, he brought them into the world of hip hop.

Last November, the musician sold a large part of his jewelry in an auction that achieved about 4.83 million euros.

Among the pieces for sale was the NERD pendant,

made with a huge chain encrusted with gems topped by a medallion that portrays in multi-colored diamonds the three musicians of his first musical group.

According to the Joopiter auction house itself, which Williams owns, this piece is one of the "most iconic pieces in modern jewelry history."

7. From plastic to clothes

Pharrell is a leading activist for causes like sustainability.

In 2014, he became the creative director of Bionic Yarn, a materials engineering company that transforms plastics from the ocean into fabrics for clothing.

The company collects plastic waste from the coasts and, through a long treatment process, turns it into polymer threads, a material with which they make new textiles for major brands such as H&M, Timberland or G-Star Raw.

8. Your own pace

Williams' love affair with fashion goes back a long way.

Her most recent position at Louis Vuitton does not imply that this is her first project in the industry.

Before, he had already collaborated with brands such as Adidas and Chanel, with which he launched the brand's first capsule collection with a celebrity in its history, at the request of Karl Lagerfeld, who did not see the fruits of his collaboration with the artist because he died. shortly before it came out in 2019.

Since the start of her career, Williams has challenged gender norms in fashion.

At a time when baggy jeans and

oversized

T-shirts ruled the world of rappers, he wore skinny pants and tighter clothing.

On more than one occasion, he has also been seen wearing women's clothing, such as an Hermés Birkin bag with purple crocodile skin or the pastel Céline coat that he wore to a photo shoot for the French edition of GQ

.

in 2017. In that interview, the cover of which she starred in, she explained the philosophy behind her personal style: “It all started with the 'I could wear this' mentality.

I wore a lot of Chanel and Céline, because they were clothes that fit me.

When you listen to yourself and feel comfortable with who you are, you wear what looks good on you and what you like.

And that's it”.

In that interview, she also credited part of her taste for gender-fluid clothing to her admiration for women: "I love women, and there are things about them that are very interesting and that can be used for men."

“It is one of the most beautiful things that is happening with this generation, they don't see these problems, they don't see these lines.

You can have all the masculinity in the world, but you have to balance it with awareness.

This is true masculinity:

Pharrell Williams carries the Hermès Birkin bag as he leaves his New York hotel in 2007. Arnaldo Magnani / Getty Images (Getty Images)

In that same talk, Pharrell recalled how people thought he and his brothers were "weird" because they wore pearl necklaces to school.

“We did it simply because it was a way to express ourselves.

Now that I'm older, and understand the effeminate nature that pearls project, it makes all the sense in the world."

And his sources of inspiration are not conventional either.

"I don't follow trends, but I find silhouettes that inspire me, and these become my

look

for, maybe, six or eight months," he confessed.

It remains to be seen now, and there is not much left to do, what his inspiration for his first collection at Louis Vuitton would have been.

Source: elparis

All news articles on 2023-04-05

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