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Pharrell’s style gamble inspires daring new trend for men

Pharrell wore pearl necklaces to the Chanel show in Paris.

Pharrell wore pearl necklaces to the Chanel show in Paris. Photo: Getty

Musician, producer and style supremo Pharrell Williams walked in the Chanel fashion show at the Ritz in Paris this week rocking a particularly fabulous look which consisted of grey trousers, a classic Chanel jacket, a fur yarmulke and ropes of pearls.

I thought he looked amazing and promptly showed the video to my 21-year-old sons.

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Pharrell somehow managed to pull off a pearl necklace, a brooch and a tweed jacket. Photo: Getty

“Ah yes, his style is fresh. He really pushes the boundaries,” they responded.

“So how are you feeling about wearing pearls?” I asked.

My son Sam watched it again, slightly perplexed.

“Nah, I don’t rate it,” he concluded. “He looks like Queen Elizabeth.”

Despite my sons’ reluctance to embrace the full Coco Chanel look, I do love the way men in general have started to explore new fashion possibilities and embrace trends previously deemed feminine.

Fashion houses such as Gucci, Bally and Vetements are leading the charge, sending their male models out in gender defiant pussy bow blouses, satin, lace and brocade, totally reinvigorating the menswear category as a result.

At a lunch last week, the General Manager of Barneys in Beverly Hills, Tobi Sargent, confirmed that while womenswear sales had been slow in 2016, the real growth had been in menswear.

Designers are providing more interesting fashion choices than the suit, shirt and tie and it’s clearly paying dividends.

But are pearls a step too far, even for today’s hipsters?

Why don’t we take inspiration from Renaissance France and the Maharajas of India and bring in some major show-stopping pieces for men, like tiered diamond and jewel necklaces, stacks of gem-studded bracelets and fingers full of rings.

Mainstream jewellery for men has been so safe and apologetic in recent times; a simple silver bangle, a diamond stud earring, small amulets on leather cords – a more “gender neutral” look.

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From the Maharajas of India (left) to Rolling Stones star Keith Richards, men have been wearing jewellery for years. Photo: Getty

To my mind, pushing traditional gender limits is highly attractive. As a David Bowie-obsessed teen, I was thrilled to see him in makeup and earrings.

No one has ever looked as great as he did in blue eye shadow and a tailored suit in the Life on Mars video.

I say skip the leather and silver rubbish and go hard on the jewellery, diamonds, pearls, opals, whatever.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v–IqqusnNQ

A Swedish fashion boss – and one of the most devastatingly stylish men I have ever seen – once met me for lunch at Sydney’s Rockpool restaurant, a popular destination for barristers and businessmen in bland expensive suits.

Olive-skinned, with longish black hair, he was wearing a white open-necked shirt, a bespoke navy pinstriped suit, green velvet slippers, one gold drop earring, neck tattoos, and a gemstone gold ring on every finger. Superb.

If he had also been wearing smudged kohl eyeliner then I would have found my perfect man.

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Why don’t more men wear statement rings? Photo: Getty

Rappers and rockstars have certainly expanded the concept of jewellery for men, with their gold chains and diamond skull rings, but Pharrell in his demure pearls was a genuine shock. A wonderful shock.

How great if men started wearing pearls, and brooches, and diamante drop earrings (very nice against a tuxedo).

As fashion blurs the lines between gender bias, and we all wear hoodies and leggings, and parkas and suits, the last lines to come down are shoes and jewellery.

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Pharrell is a regular wearer of jewellery. Photo: Getty

I noticed a man in the Neiman Marcus shoe department in Los Angeles last week, who was wearing a satin bomber jacket, his jeans tucked into high heeled stiletto snakeskin boots.

He turned some heads to be sure, but I applaud his choice. David Bowie would have approved too.

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