Pharrell Talks His New “Barefoot” Sneaker, His Vision of Luxury, and Trusting the Universe

The first time Pharrell Williams laced up a sample of his latest sneaker with Adidas, he was struck by a sensation he’d never quite felt before. “It reminded me of being barefoot,” he says. “Obviously you have all this advanced cushioning and technology, but you just feel so much closer to the earth.”

With that in mind, Pharrell knew immediately where to turn to when it came time to name the shoe. “I wanted to get advice from our native brothers and sisters,” he says, “because I’ve learned so much from the way they see existence and nature.” Five years ago, Pharrell traveled to North Dakota to meet members of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe to shoot the first campaign for his Adidas Hu NMD sneaker, and he’s stayed close with several of them ever since. “I reached out to my brother Dee Jay Two Bears, and asked him how I would say ‘barefoot’ [in Dakota]. He gave me something even better—‘sičhona,’ which means ‘connecting to the earth.’” That would be the name: the Humanrace Sičhona.

To debut the shoe, Pharrell and Adidas returned to Standing Rock to shoot another campaign starring Dakota youth. It’s a full-circle moment that feels particularly apt: The Hu NMD went on to become a verified global hit, spawning dozens of freaky colorways and an unprecedented collaboration with Chanel. The Sičhona, meanwhile, marks a fresh chapter in Pharrell’s long-standing partnership with the Three Stripes. Beyond all the hypermodern tech stuffed into its sleek silhouette—like the strikingly sculptural Futurenatural midsoles, which allow your feet to move more fluidly and naturally—the Sičhona is also the very first shoe to bear Pharrell’s Humanrace logo, which he introduced last year with the launch of his much-heralded skincare line.

With the Humanrace Sičhona dropping on August 27 via Adidas’s Confirmed app, Humanrace.com, and select retailers, GQ caught up with Pharrell about his new line, his legacy in sneakers, and trusting the universe.

GQ: This is the first sneaker you’ve released featuring your Humanrace branding. What was the impetus behind that move?

Pharrell: Humanrace is my new luxury brand. I look at luxury in a totally different way. It has to look beautiful, be made beautiful, but also be useful. When you buy something, these things should stay with you. Everybody’s making way more considered purchases these days than they ever have before—it’s mindful consumption, which is super important. Prioritizing yourself to begin with, that’s important. That’s your well-being. That’s the ultimate luxury: looking after yourself, looking after others, and just being considerate of the environment. That’s what we want to do with Humanrace. We want to bring convenience and design and consideration, and we want to bring conditioning.

What do you mean by “conditioning”?

Well, the human condition is a very interesting thing. From the way that we work out our bodies, to the way that we work out together as a society—or we don’t work out as a society. Look at the wars we have going on actively right now in the world. Look at all the travesties that are happening. Look at the incredible, really contagious divisiveness that’s going on in our nation right now. Look at the pandemic going on around the world. That is the human condition. You need to ask yourself, what can you do within yourself to contribute to change? To contribute to the elevation? That’s the human condition.

You mentioned this idea of true luxury being looking after yourself and others. What are some of the ways you’ve tried to do that lately?

Man, as much as I talk about prioritizing yourself, I pride myself on thinking of others and trying to do things for other people. There’s the work that we do with World Central Kitchen with José Andrés, helping to feed folks and keep restaurants open and in business during such trying times. There’s the work we’re doing with Black Ambition, which is helping Black and Latinx entrepreneurs bring their ideas to life and find strategic mentorship. Then there’s the stuff that we’re working on with Yellow, trying to change things in education. And, at the same time, music is always my baby. I’m just doing as much as I can—that’s what you’re supposed to do. Life isn’t just about us. It’s about others.

One of the first sneakers I ever bought for myself was the Ice Cream Boardflip, one of the earliest shoes you ever designed. How do you think your instincts as a designer have evolved or remained the same since that period?

I don’t know. I go through evolutions just like everybody else. At the time, I had a chip on my shoulder about how skate culture was regarded by the rest of the world. Thank goodness now it’s been accepted at the Olympics—not to say that’s the greatest endorsement in the world. But it’s a very good step for mankind to finally respect that which has given us so many really talented people. Skateboarding has given us a lot of people that have gone on to do so many things outside of skateboarding. It’s their point of view—that skateboarding POV—that’s changed the world. Back then, I was doing whatever I could to help push [skateboarding’s status forward].

Now, that chip on my shoulder is gone. When I design something, again, it’s about bringing convenience and creativity and considering the human condition. Not just the individual wearing them, but the rest of the world around them as well.

You’ve worked with some of the most legendary designers on the planet throughout your career, from Nigo to Karl Lagerfeld. What are some of the greatest lessons about design you’ve taken away from those experiences?

Nigo is 50 percent taste and 50 percent curation. But in both of those domains he’s 100 percent taste, 100 percent curation. So he’s 200 percent. And Karl was 100 percent designer, 100 percent curator. He was the same thing. You just mentioned two GOATs. Standing next to Nigo and standing next to Karl, I am a raggedy ram.

That being said, you have amassed a pretty stellar body of work in your time as a sneaker designer. Given that it’s a culture that means so much to you, what sort of legacy do you hope to leave behind in the sneaker world?

Oh, I haven’t graduated yet. I’m still a student. I’m still developing. I’m inspired by the influx of all the information that I have to study. My mind is exploding. But I’m learning so much, and I’m so excited by it. It comes out in my music, it comes out in any design that I’m doing—it’s food. Never stop learning.

These days, sneaker collaborations come and go in the blink of an eye, but your relationship with Adidas has held strong the better part of a decade now. Why has it lasted?

Well, I am a student, and they are a brand of the people. Whatever it is that I’ve learned, I like to go back and share with them, and we end up doing something about it, collectively, as partners. They do care about the world in a lot of ways. When they make mistakes, they address them, and I like to help them turn problems into assets. Their brand is always seeking to improve their relationship with their consumer base, always considerate of the consumer base, and I think that’s what we have in common. We both want to service—and serve—our supporters.

For obvious reasons, a lot of people associate you with happiness. How have you managed to stay hopeful and optimistic through all the tumult of the past year?

I believe in the universe. It was here before us. It will be here after us. And for me, that is divine order. That’s what gives me faith, that’s what I have faith in. Mankind? That’s different. Man isn’t always kind. But the universe is always there. That’s what makes me not only hopeful but incredibly excited. We’ve been through so many things as a species, and our resiliency has always persevered. And the universe has always been consistent and constant. If you think about it, it’s been 14.8 billion years that we’ve seen solar systems created and collapsed over and over again. God is the greatest. We’ll be fine.