the hitmaker; He's made gold for Britney and Justin.(Pharrell Williams)

Byline: Liza Ghorbani

Most days, Pharrell Williams certainly looks the part of a self-professed "big kid"_ with a penchant for skateboarding, White Chocolate Reese's, and SpongeBob SquarePants. Standing among racks of colorful clothes and rows of sneakers in the SoHo showroom of A Bathing Ape clothing, the baby-faced 33-year-old is like a spindly teenager in his Billionaire Boys Club hoodie, Ice Cream sneakers, and blue baseball hat, especially when presented with a new pair of rainbow patent-leather sneakers by his good friend and design collaborator, Nigo. "I'm the sample size," he explains, eyeing the size 9s and flashing a smile that outshines the blinding string of diamonds around his neck. "I'm going to have to wear these tonight."

Pharrell has flown to New York for just one night to attend the one-year-anniversary celebration of Bathing Ape's New York store at the Chelsea hot spot Marquee. While someone takes his lunch order, another is filming him on a camcorder, and his trusted barber-to-the-stars, Johnny, patiently waits nearby. "There's definitely an inner conflict of me being a kid in a candy store and just doing what I want to do," says the Grammy-winning producer, who is wearing far too many rocks to count, including a half-million-dollar Royal watch by Jacob the Jeweler. "Only three people have it. Me, Sean Carter"-a.k.a. Jay-Z-"and Sean Combs. This is the first one,"_ he says, grinning proudly, and then catches himself. "By luck, though."

Pharrell has never shied away from high fashion, and is quick to rattle off his favorites: Gucci for suits, Prada for shoes, Fendi for accessories, Louis Vuitton for luggage . . . and Levi's 501s for jeans ("If it ain't broke, don't try to fix it," he says).

"I always wanted the Ricky Schroder life-you remember Silver Spoons?"

Pharrell struggles with a love for pricey accoutrements and a disdain for elitism. "But at a certain point it starts to look like"-he pauses and breaks into a pompous accent for effect-"Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous! And he must ...