Manly Man: Pharrell’s Controversial Elle July 2014 Elle UK Cover
On the cutting edge of fashion, music and pop culture is recent Oscar Winner (for Happy) Pharrell Williams. While Pharell has climbed to singular name status, his choices for head gear continue to stir the masses. His exaggerated Mountie hat by Vivienne Westwood caused onlookers to wonder what the heck he was hiding under that skyscraper brim.
Now, much to the dismay of Native Americans, Pharrell has donned a feather headdress — a sacred adornment reserved for warriors and chiefs. Do you think Pharrell was blatently disrespectful? Or, could it be that in the ongoing European tradition of showing their ignorance of the customs of people of color, the editors at Elle UK didn’t do their homework. Or did they indeed research the and just snub the cultural traditions of Native Americans?
And what about Pharrell? With a profile that hints at Cherokee ancestry, does he have the right to don a traditional Indian headdress? Or is he “simply” following his path of disrupting the fashion norms for men?
No matter the reasons, Native Americans are voicing their displeasure with Pharrell’s latest fashion choice with a virtual voice that says #NOTHappy.