When I hear the name Pharrell Williams, the two things that automatically come to mind are his hit song “Happy” and the oversized, sack-like Vivienne Westwood hat that he wore to the Grammys last year.

Never do I think fashion icon when I hear his name, which is why it was a little surprising to hear that the Council of Fashion Designers of America gave him the 2015 Fashion Icon Award. He will receive his award at the CFDA Fashion Awards this upcoming June.

The Fashion Icon Award celebrates an individual whose style has had an influence on popular culture on an international stage. Previous winners include Rihanna, Lady Gaga and Kate Moss. Pharrell makes up part of the small population of men who have taken the award, as he is the second male recipient with Johnny Depp previously winning in 2012.

So then why did Pharrell win the award?

“If cool was a person, it would be Pharrell, not just for his looks and sense of style but for his kindness and openness. I cannot imagine anyone not seduced by him,” said designer Diane von Furstenberg, president of the CFDA, on the organization’s website on March 18.

Pharrell has also invested a lot of his interest into fashion. He has collaborated with brands such as Uniqlo, Adidas, Moynat and Moncler. He co-founded the clothing brands Billionaire Boys Club and ICECREAM. He has a New York City boutique and has co-designed jewelry and eyeglasses for Louis Vuitton.

So in reality, it looks like Pharrell has actually done a lot for the fashion world. It has just mainly gone unnoticed from most of the public. Or maybe that’s just me — but I read a lot about fashion.

Looking at his style profile, you would see an array of short suits, which is a suit with shorts instead of pants, camouflage, statement jackets, whimsical prints — which are often paired with two or three other prints which look nothing alike — lots of accessories, denim on denim and hats that are larger than his head.

Keeping this in mind, I can see why they would choose Pharrell as a style icon — his outfits contain many items that are on trend and he doesn’t confine his style into a narrow little box. He takes lots of risks with his wardrobe — which either goes really well or really bad. He invests in others designers’ fashion as well as his own.

But while I can understand their decision, I don’t necessarily agree with it. He may implement trends, but in no way do I really think of him as stylish. His style is way too eclectic for my taste and in many ways I think he is trying to bring back fashions from the past that should really stay there — his shorts tuxedos being one of my least favorites.

There are a few times when I find Pharrell to be extremely stylish. These times are often when he takes his outfits down a notch and wears a slick, sophisticated looking suit or jeans and a button down. I think he looks most stylish when his outfits are more simplified. More times than not, his outfit has too many layers that make it look like he closed his eyes and randomly picked items out of his closet to wear.

It will be interesting to see what Pharrell wears to the CFDA awards. Last year Rihanna wore her famous — or infamous — see-through dress covered in thousands of tiny rhinestones. Let’s see if Pharrell can wear something to top that and be worthy of an award.

Alexis McDonell is a junior magazine journalism major. Her column appears weekly in Pulp. You can email her at admcdone@syr.edu.

Published on March 22, 2015 at 8:17 pm