It’s no secret that Pharrell Williams, renaissance man and millinery iconoclast, knows a thing or two about the ineffable je ne sais quoi we call ‘personal style’.

Perhaps the only man in the world other than Brad Kroenig who doesn’t look ridiculous wearing head-to-toe CHANEL (we see you, Baptiste), Williams is a close friend not only of the storied French couture house but also of its incumbent creative director Karl Lagerfeld, whose atelier he recently visited after attending the label’s Autumn/Winter 2016 show at the Grand Palais.

In the above video, watch as Pharrell tries his hand at the unenviable tasks that are usually reserved for the studio’s remarkable petite mains – the craftspeople whose finesse and unparalleled skill is unique to the rarefied art of haute couture and the Métiers d’art of CHANEL.

For those of you playing along at home, each year CHANEL stages a show with the sole intention of paying tribute to the artisans whose phenomenal handiwork is indispensable to the house’s collections. Not unlike the increasingly itinerant Cruise collections, the Métiers d’Art shows take place outside of the traditional fashion calendar in a different city. Last year, the show was held was Salzburg and before that, Dallas, Edinburgh, New York and Mumbai have all played host to CHANEL’s international contingent of guests.

This year’s event was staged at Rome’s Cinecittà film complex, and as always the collection was an homage to the work of the embroiderer Lesage, the feathers and flowers maker Lemarié, the pleater Lognon, the shoe maker Massaro and the hat maker Maison Michel.

Suffice to say, Williams need not quit his day job anytime soon.

Pieces from the collection will be available in boutiques from June.

Tile and cover image: Courtesy of CHANEL