Virgil Abloh Cites Pharrell Williams As One Of His Biggest Influences

continues to shine as one of fashions hottest names. In a recent article he names Skateboard P as the creative that shaped his approach the most.

As spotted on Complex the designer spoke to The New York Times for a piece titled The African-American Art Shaping the 21st Century which highlights 35 Black artists and pieces of work that influenced them the most. The Chicago Native pointed the critically acclaimed but still highly slept on debut from N.E.R.D. In Search Of…

“There’s an interview where [Pharrell Williams] classically said, The album is too white for black radio and too black for white radio,” he said. “As a kid growing up in the suburbs of Chicago, skateboarding and finding my own identity, it resonated with me more than Hip-Hop on its own. [It said] that it was fine to be in between. And I think that has described a whole generation of young black kids and artists who have since been determined to be themselves and jump through that door that was opened by Pharrell.”

went on to why that album means so much for the culture. “The prototype at the time was that you had to be a thug or an athlete or a rapper. And then he came along with a different panache as a producer, an artist, a tastemaker, an individual. That sort of held a mirror up for me — it was a new prototype, and it came with a new sound. A lot of the freedom that exhibits in my practice is of that same sort of risk-taking.”

You can read the Times article here.

Photo: Jordan Brand