The New York Times: A Week with Pharrell Williams

Multifaceted singer, songwriter and designer Pharrell Williams was recently chosen as a style consultant alongside storied music composer Hans Zimmer for the 2012 Academy Awards. Williams’ numerous endeavors have plummeted him onto the radar of many well-known productions, films, culture and music acts alike – not the least of these is the recent Academy Awards honor. Bee-Shyuan Chang of The New York Times recently spent seven days with the Miami-based artist, dropping in on his day-to-day activities leading up to the Oscar ceremony. Read the entirety of the feature here and view a small excerpt below.

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 15 In Miami, it’s usually warm, but I’m mostly indoors. I started off my day wearing a Billionaire Boys Club white crew neck T-shirt, blue denim jeans and SpongeBob SquarePants toe socks. I love SpongeBob; I just think he’s funny. Squidward is my favorite, though. If he was a human, I would hang out with him. I had a photo shoot scheduled with my good friend Nigo for his brand Human Made and we decided to have the shoot at my apartment. I modeled a lot of the clothes, which pay homage to the very early Levi’s cuts, and ended up really loving these striped shorts. They were simple but the fit was awesome. I tried to take it from Nigo, but he said he needed it.

After the shoot, I headed to the studio to meet up with Diplo. Kept on the jeans and changed into a blue flannel shirt, black N.E.R.D. logo skullcap and my custom Timberland six-inch black leather boots. I drew on the boots with white and red Sharpie paint pens. It’s a bit American mall rat- and punk-influenced: some cartoon graphics and a small Chanel CC logo. After, I stopped by one of my favorite stores in Miami, the Webster. The owners have great taste and they carry Chanel. I’m a really big fan.

THURSDAY, FEB. 16 A very rare day off. Aside from a few conference calls, I spent it at home with my family, so just put on a Gap white V-neck T-shirt, gray sweat pants and my oversized Mickey Mouse yellow slippers.

FRIDAY, FEB. 17 Off to New York for a photo shoot. I wore my black leather jacket: a biker style and a collaboration between Junya Watanabe Comme des Garçons and Vanson. Nigo introduced me to Junya Watanabe’s designs a few years ago and I’ve liked Junya’s sensibility ever since: out of the box, but not trying too hard. I added a blue and red flannel shirt and a black skullcap. Our next destination was L.A. To prevent myself from getting sick on the plane, I wrapped a Junya plaid and camouflage print scarf around my neck.