Pharrell Williams' Furniture Foray

Creative mogul Pharrell Williams is known for knocking down the barriers between art, music, fashion and, now, high-end furniture design. His Eames-inspired Perspective Chair recently went on view in the prestigious art gallery Emmanuel Perrotin in Paris and made quite a statement—especially for a first time exhibitor.

Williams has diverted the famous Eames chair into his own vision of style, creating a smoking hot collector's piece of liveable art. The chair comes in "hot" red, "chic" black, "good-looking" teal and "popping" yellow, with only four of each color available. With prices starting at $20,000 a piece, the chair is well out of reach for many of his loyal fans, to which Williams explains: "This whole project was all about the creative process. We had to consider the costs to realize such ideas. I just try to stay true to what it is that I'm creating."

The Perspective Chair is a conceptual materialization of the phrase "What it's like to walk in someone else's shoes"—simply, to see from another perspective. "Basically the legs are the action that tell the story and the seat is where you can sit to have your own personal perspective on what it must be like," Williams told us on his recent stopover in Paris. "The legs signify a man and a woman and being in love."

Despite the exclusiveness of both the venue and the product, the chair is made for the people it truly touches. "Art and design collectors like things that move the spirit," Williams noted, before listing Takashi Murakami, Jeff Koons, Brian Donnelly and Prouvé among the artists who have moved him. "I had no idea furniture design was going to be such a fantastic and amazing ride. The days are filled with cool interviews that I don't mind," he admits, observing that the industry queries are a far cry from the redundancy of music journalists.

The limited edition Perspective Chair was produced in collaboration with the prestigious French furniture maker Domeau & Pérès and is on show until January 10th at Emmanuel Perrotin Gallery in Paris.

For more information, see www.galerieperrotin.com.

—Nora Baldenweg