Pharrell’s Secret to an Unbelievably Stylish Wardrobe? Be Boring
It’s funny that Pharrell, living fashion legend, is possibly one of the most intentionally “boring” dressers out there. Skateboard P’s secret to next-level style? Wear the same thing every day.
“I've never really cared what anyone thinks,” Pharrell tells Highsnobiety. “I go through periods where I just wear uniforms for, like, six to eight months. Over the pandemic, I must've had the same silhouette for at least a year.”
Uniform dressing is a quietly canny bit of wardrobe genius. It was famously adopted by legendary brainiac Steve Jobs, who exclusively donned identical Issey Miyake turtlenecks and Levi’s jeans to free his mind for the day’s more important multitudes.
And hardly anyone alive needs to save their creative juices more than Pharrell, after all. In the past couple months alone, Pharrell has overseen collaborative adidas sneakers, Evian apparel (and water) designed by his Humanrace imprint, Louis Vuitton collections, a Joopiter auction, his second Tiffany jewelry collection, and, of course, his forthcoming LEGO-animated biopic, Brick By Brick, which includes its own marketing endeavors. And that’s just the public-facing stuff! These are the miracles you can achieve with a streamlined wardrobe.
But whereas Jobs’ uniform was singular enough to inspire countless Halloween costumes, Pharrell’s outfit approach with a uniform is distinctly brilliant. The trick is that though Pharrell has found a comfortable niche, he hasn’t stopped dressing with fluid flyness. Unlike Steve Jobs or Andre 3000, who’s also aligned himself with a single look, Pharrell likes to tinker.
P’s current go-to outfit comprises a short Louis Vuitton jacket, flared jeans (also LV), and a small rotation of luxury accessories that range from his signature Tiffany sunglasses to an LV Millionaire bag, with the occasional cowboy hat to taste, open palms perpetually clasped in thanks. This same silhouette has carried him from the early days of his tenure at LV to this very moment, though the specific pieces have shifted. At worst, uniform dressing may yield samey styling. But a talented dresser can capably flip fresh looks without complicating the process of putting them together.
“Curiosity is the key,” Pharrell contends. “As long as you’re curious, you have options of inspiration and direction. It’s all based on how curious you wanna be, how curious you allow yourself to be.”
Thus, he’s still having fun with the prospect of getting dressed even while following a formula. Pharrell’s approach to shaping a uniform has been a long time coming, something honed over the course of his life. And in turn, Pharrell unlocked a learnable truth. From the preppy bagginess of early Billionaire Boys Club to Pharrell’s perpetual summertime get-up of sweaters ‘n tiny shorts, he’s consistently shaped his signature silhouettes with a rotation of familiar pieces. Not identical pieces, mind you, but familiar ones.
“If I like a particular silhouette I've assembled, I'll just buy a bunch of different colors but the same model,” explains Pharrell. “Same thing with shorts or tees or crewnecks or hoodies. They're like little uniforms to me.”
You can see how a uniform, done the Pharrell way, can be a cheat code for peerless style. Simply figure out the cuts that work for you and build from there, staying true to the core while dabbling with the framework to keep things fresh. Because truly creative people never outgrow their restlessness — they just figure out how to make it work in their favor.
“I'm 51,” he laughs. “And I’m a big kid.”
Hey, big kids gotta get dressed, too.
