Field Notes
Pharrell’s Big Hat Moment and the Long Shadow of Vivienne Westwood
In 2014, Pharrell Williams walked onto the Grammy stage wearing an oversized felt hat that instantly became a viral sensation. But behind the memes and fast-food chain jokes was a story decades in the making, one that began with Vivienne Westwood’s radical 1982 Nostalgia of Mud collection, passed through Malcolm McLaren’s hip-hop collaborations, and found new life in Pharrell’s homage to street culture and avant-garde fashion.
