Pharrell Williams, 47, will succeed Virgil Abloh as the man’s creative director at Louis Vuitton

American musician, record producer and designer Pharrell Williams will succeed Virgil Abloh as Louis Vuitton’s men’s creative director, according to a statement issued by the French luxury fashion house on Tuesday.

Williams collaborated with both Chanel and Karl Lagerfeld, in addition to his sneaker collaboration with the latter in which he became the first man to appear in an ad. He worked with several brands, including Tiffany & Company.

From a huge brown topper hat he wore to the 2014 Grammy Awards to his now-signature bejeweled Tiffany shades, Williams’s daring personal style often makes headlines and he is no stranger to fashion’s front row.

Williams’ creativity is similar to that of Abloh, as evidenced by the new hotel project he is involved in and the portable cutlery set he released because of the disease.

How Williams will apply his skillset to his new role at Louis Vuitton remains to be seen but a flurry of industry reactions to the news across social media suggest he’ll have a packed house at his first show this summer.

The Associated Press and the New York Times said that the two-time Oscar nominee has been working with luxury brands for decades.

Williams collaborated with a jewelry and sunglasses company in the early aughts. The sunglasses collection called Millionaire was re-released in 1998, and shades are currently listed at more than double their original price on resale sites.

Abloh became well-known as the creative director for the rapper formerly known as West and went on to found the haute couture label Off-White before joining Louis Vuitton.

His interests grew into things like jewelry and architecture as he grew the role from “designer” to “curator”. He was one of few Black designers who lead a luxury fashion house and helped pave the way for others after him.

Business of Fashion writes that he transformed the role of a creative director, creating it with hip-hop’s penchant for altering, skateboarding’s sense of community and a desire for social progress. “And he helped open doors to a wider cast of creatives, engaging directly with his followers, online and off, and offering them ‘cheat codes’ and ‘trails of information’ for how to launch brands of their own.”

Some were not happy with the decision to replace Williams with a celebrity, even though many people on social media were happy with his appointment.

But GQ notes that he’s been a style icon throughout his career, from mixing skateboarder-wear with hip-hop style as the frontman of N.E.R.D in the early 2000s to embracing womenswear and gender-neutral clothing in recent years.

He told the magazine that it started with the phrase, ‘I can pull that off’.

“When you listen to yourself and you’re comfortable in who you are, you wear what you feel like fits and looks right on you,” he added. “And that’s all.”