Pharrell graces this month’s cover of “Paper” Magazine for their annual art issue. Check more with Pharrell and his inspiration behind his art at the Paper website.
Shepard Fairey interviews Pharrell for the cover story of the latest issue of Paper Magazine. These two collaborators (I didn’t know Shepard Fairey designed N*E*R*D’s brain logo) discuss skateboarding, branding one’s image, collaborations with FriendsWithYou and Louis Vuitton, his new projects with Brooklyn Machine Works and Artist.com, and pushing the commercial/art movement forward.
In the excerpt below, Pharrell discusses meeting BAPE founder Nigo and starting up BBC/Ice Cream.
SF: I’m curious about your relationship with [Bathing Ape designer/music producer] Nigo, who I feel is like the Japanese Warhol. In Japan, in terms of the crossover between commercial projects and high-end art, there are fewer boundaries. How did you get into what he was doing with the [clothing and shoe lines] Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream?
PW: Well, he basically just gave me a shot. I came to his studio, he showed me some of his stuff, and I told him I wanted this, this and this. He told me to take it. I wore a lot of it, and finally he was like, “Hey, you wanna do your own line?” I was like, “Hell yeah,” and so the rest was history.
© 2010, @BWyche. All rights reserved.
