Pharrell has received the Légion d’Honneur, France’s highest national award, presented by French President Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée Palace in Paris. The ceremony happened on January 23, just days after Pharrell’s latest Louis Vuitton menswear show in Paris. The timing felt right. Music, fashion, and culture all meeting in one moment. In his speech, Macron spoke about Pharrell as more than an artist. He called him a symbol of peace and unity, someone whose music travels without borders and connects people everywhere.
“It is a great honor to have you here. Especially in this special week which was very demanding for the relationship between France and the U.S. Dear Pharrell, you are by yourself our personal Board of Peace, because you always bring peace, solace, and hope in France, in America, in the whole world, wherever your music is heard.”
He also joked about Pharrell’s sunglasses and admitted they even influenced his own recent look. Macron went back to the beginning. A kid discovering rhythm. A first snare drum. The start of a lifetime built around sound, ideas, and movement. From The Neptunes to producing for Jay-Z and Britney Spears, to “Happy” becoming a global anthem that made millions move together. The point was simple. Pharrell never stays in one lane. That same mindset carried into fashion. When Louis Vuitton named Pharrell artistic director of menswear in 2023, it changed the conversation.
“Speaking about your decisive influence on style in France, I must say that I have noticed you always wear fancy sunglasses. It was a good piece of advice from you that I have tried to follow the last few days. I don’t know if you have seen it. I have been told some in Davos did.” “With you, creation is never limited to a single art form”. “At an early age, you discovered music, which set the rhythm of your days and brought color to your everyday life. Your grandmother spotted it and gave you your very first instrument: a snare drum. A simple object, but one that taught you how a beat can set the pace and make people dance.”
His first show on the Pont Neuf wasn’t just a collection. It was a statement. Freedom, joy, and a new way of looking at modern masculinity. Macron also highlighted Pharrell’s discipline. Early mornings. Training. Meditation. Creating every day. Not for show, but because that’s how he lives. He ended by saying that behind all the success is gratitude. Gratitude for the journey, the people, and the work.
“Its rhythm spread and you became the man who made the world dance in unison.” “But Pharrell,” he continued, “with you, creation is never confined to a single art.” “for your irreverence, your boundless creativity, and your total commitment. And from the very first year, you delivered with a spectacular debut collection, unveiled during a landmark show on the Pont Neuf, transformed for the occasion into a golden stage,” Macron said. “The world discovered the silhouettes you had imagined: the Louis Vuitton Damier reinterpreted as bold pixelated camouflage, boldly paired with denim, tailoring, or with unexpected hats and accessories.”
“a manifesto show, in your own image, expressing a vision of masculinity liberated from clichés. And you went even further at UNESCO in 2024, where your new collection carried a universal message—a call for unity among humankind, beneath the United Nations flags at the Place de Fontenoy.” “Moving from musician to exhibition curator might have made others hesitate. But not you. You didn’t shy away from experimenting—not even when it meant being cast in a mold, remaining immobile for hours, breathing through a straw, so that Daniel Arsham could create a sculpture in your likeness. After all, you always sought to learn from the very best, and to create alongside them.”
“Dear Pharrell, listing all your achievements would be impossible: you have the rare ability to live a thousand passions within a single lifetime,” he said. “You managed to do so because you are incredibly talented, but also thanks to your steadfast discipline that could intimidate even an Olympic athlete. A five a.m. wake-up call. Five hundred sit-ups. Meditation. A hot bath, a cold shower—and sometimes even a burst of songwriting in the bathroom itself.” “Behind the brilliance of your success lies this daily rigor. But also a guiding principle to which you remain deeply faithful: gratitude. Gratitude for the journey that brought you here, allowing you, despite worldwide recognition, to remain the humble, witty, and deeply human creator so admired by your teams.”
