If Anyone Can Bring NFT Merch Back, It's Pharrell. But Can He?
These days, Pharrell Williams isn’t only making million-dollar Louis Vuitton bags, dominating fashion week, devising biopics, curating VIP auctions, working with NIGO, and devising collaborative adidas. Sure, that might sound like a lot of responsibility but it's actually peanuts to Pharrell, who wears many more hats in reality.
One of which is, believe it or not, partially overseeing NFT-cum-multimedia brand Doodles.
Yes, Pharrell is still the chief brand officer of Doodles, one of the last blue-chip web3 projects standing.
Pretty forward-thinking of Doodles to hire Pharrell back in 2022 because he's stuck with Doodles even through the current cratered state of NFTs.
Doodles survived into the post-NFT era by branching itself out into a variety of projects, including the acquisition of animation studio Golden Wolf and creation of phygital wearables in partnership with big names like Pharrell and adidas.
Now, Pharrell is taking his web3 friends to Tokyo for a pop-up at tastemaking shop-in-shop 2G, a joint venture between influential fashion brain Poggy and nearby gallery Nanzuka. This is the kind of cool-guy push only possible thanks to the involvement of a mover and shaker of Pharrell's scope.
There, Doodles will offer some of its first-ever IRL merch (not including the stuff it sells on its web store) and even a G-SHOCK watch collab.
The Doodles G-SHOCK DW-6900 is a physical, mint green watch with a pink face, complete with the Doodles 2 logo on the back and additional graphics designed by Scott "Burnt Toast" Martin on the band.
While the G-SHOCK watch is arguably the most desirable Pharrellified piece of the drop, though other merch, like Doodles-adjacent artwork, hoodies, and hats with Doodles characters, will also be for sale.
The Doodles merch will be available on February 9 in Japan and online in the US from February 10. Will it fare better than the recent Bored Ape collabs? Given Pharrell's involvement, seems possible. But kickstarting mass interest in NFTs once again? Reply hazy, try again.
Doodles has made the most of its involvement with Pharrell: its Doodles 2 free-to-mint packs offered users both cheerful pastel-colored characters and a token for real-world merch like Pharrell's tonal Humanrace x adidas Samba sneakers.
The end result wasn't exactly a crossover smash — Doodles-related discussion is still mostly relegated to NFT holders alone — but it did demonstrate the possibilities of how a savvy creative mind could levy the venture into a profitable prospect. Well, maybe.
It certainly does feel like that ship has sailed but, then again, there's a built-in audience of NFT holders and certainly a willing audience of art-curious collectors who're presumably willing to buy into something related to a tastemaker they admire.
If anyone can do it, it's gotta be Pharrell, right?
