Pharrell Shares His ’90s-Inspired Style Secrets

Until the Rihanna-featuring “Lemon” was released last week, it had been seven years since N.E.R.D. had put out a song. Despite the influential group’s absence, lead vocalist Pharrell Williams has remained at the top of his game: He’s written and produced some of the last few years’ most recognizable hits and continues to solidify his imprint on the fashion world working with brands such as G-Star, Adidas, and Chanel, to name a few.

And now, in advance of N.E.R.D.’s upcoming album, No One Ever Really Dies, Williams reveals his direction for the new record and shares how his approach to dressing has transformed since he was a hip-hop-obsessed kid. He’s as inspired by the old-school flavor of rap icons like A Tribe Called Quest as he is the everyday working uniforms of lumberjacks and truck drivers. It’s also clear that the rapper and producer has developed his fashion tastes as carefully as he’s honed his musical craft since the Neptunes’s early days. Watch the video above to get a sense for Williams’s style evolution.