--- description: Find out why Pharrell Williams will become the first man to appear in ads for Chanel handbags. title: Pharrell Williams Is Chanel’s First Male Handbag Ad Model image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d7ee4ad0e9c2bf7/6988bdfdab6d779e566ad2c4/chanel-pharrell-handbag.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [motto](/tag/motto/) ## motto Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Pharrell Williams Is Chanel’s First Male Handbag Ad Model  by [Samantha Cooney](/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 10, 2017 7:41 PM CUT  US musician Pharrell Williams attends the Chanel 2016-2017 fall/winter ready-to-wear collection fashion show on March 8, 2016 in Paris. AFP PHOTO / PATRICK KOVARIK / AFP / Patrick KOVARIK (Photo credit should read PATRICK KOVARIK/AFP/Getty Images) US musician Pharrell Williams attends the Chanel 2016-2017 fall/winter ready-to-wear collection fashion show on March 8, 2016 in Paris. AFP PHOTO / PATRICK KOVARIK / AFP / Patrick KOVARIK (Photo credit should read PATRICK KOVARIK/AFP/Getty Images)PATRICK KOVARIK—AFP/Getty Images  by [Samantha Cooney](/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 10, 2017 7:41 PM CUT Pharrell Williams will become the first man to star in Chanel handbag advertisements, [WWD reported](http://wwd.com/fashion-news/designer-luxury/exclusive-chanel-new-ads-pharrell-williams-kristen-stewart-gabrielle-bag-10840808/ "undefined"). The singer will appear alongside Kristen Stewart and Cara Delevingne in ads for the storied French fashion brand’s [“Gabrielle” bag](http://www.chanel.com/en%5FUS/fashion/waiting-chanel-gabrielle-bag.html "undefined"). Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld told WWD that the bag is versatile. “It’s not very feminine in the sense of being chichi,” Lagerfeld joked to WWD. Williams says he uses the “croc” version of the bag to carry his phone and other essentials. This isn’t his first gig for Chanel, either. He [walked the runway](http://wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-features/2016-chanel-metiers-d-art-show-ritz-paris-pharrell-williams-10720088/ "undefined") for the design house’s 2017 Métiers d’Art collection and the brand [even refers](http://pr.chanel.com/metiersdart/parisinrome/pharrellwilliams/ "undefined") to him as “a close friend of the House of CHANEL and personal friend” of Lagerfeld. “I was like a nerdy little black kid on a skateboard. So looking at high-end fashion was something that I really didn’t understand in the very beginning,” Williams told WWD. “And then I realized, slowly but surely, man, this is amazing. And although there’s mostly the perception that it’s for women, I just started to see, OK, as a man I can wear some of this.” Chanel did not immediately respond to _Motto_‘s request for comment. \[[WWD](http://wwd.com/fashion-news/designer-luxury/exclusive-chanel-new-ads-pharrell-williams-kristen-stewart-gabrielle-bag-10840808/ "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4698544/pharrell-williams-chanel-handbag-model/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4698544/pharrell-williams-chanel-handbag-model/"},"headline":"Pharrell Williams Is Chanel’s First Male Handbag Ad Model","datePublished":"2017-03-10T19:41:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:05:09.722Z","description":"‘There’s mostly the perception that it’s for women'","url":"https://time.com/4698544/pharrell-williams-chanel-handbag-model/","keywords":["motto"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d7ee4ad0e9c2bf7/6988bdfdab6d779e566ad2c4/chanel-pharrell-handbag.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Samantha Cooney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d7ee4ad0e9c2bf7/6988bdfdab6d779e566ad2c4/chanel-pharrell-handbag.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"FASHION-FRANCE-CHANEL-CELEBS","caption":"FASHION-FRANCE-CHANEL-CELEBS","creditText":"PATRICK KOVARIK—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4698544/pharrell-williams-chanel-handbag-model/","name":"Pharrell Williams Is Chanel’s First Male Handbag Ad Model"}}]}] ```