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Pharrell Williams will return to the Met Gala red carpet on May 5 as one of the event’s official co-chairs. And if past years are any indication, his wife, Helen Lasichanh, will likely attend with him.
Though Lasichanh has stepped out on major red carpets and appeared front row at several fashion shows, she is rarely interviewed and keeps her personal life private. Over the years, Williams has shared glimpses of their relationship and family life in public conversations, often highlighting Lasichanh’s role in both.
Here’s everything to know about Lasichanh and her relationship with the creative director of Louis Vuitton menswear.
They were friends for over two years before dating.
Williams and Lasichanh were close friends before they became a couple, according to Bustle, and they stayed platonic for more than two years before dating, per Us Weekly.
“She didn’t answer half my text messages,” Williams said in a 2014 interview with Oprah Winfrey, per People. “She had a boyfriend, and she wasn’t interested.”
As reported by Rolling Stone, they were together for more than five years before getting engaged in 2012. Reflecting on his early feelings for Lasichanh, Williams told Winfrey, “She just stood out. I was like, ‘Who and what is that?’ I knew at some point something was going to happen. I was just so enamored by the moment I was having with her. I just wanted to read that book. I didn’t care what was in it.”
They got married in 2013.
Lasichanh and Williams tied the knot in Miami on Oct. 12, 2013. According to Us Weekly, the event featured performances by Usher and Busta Rhymes. “It was so fun. The little concert was amazing. It [was] the most fun wedding I’ve ever been to,” a source said.
While some outlets noted their bold wedding fashion, the couple did not confirm details publicly. Both were seen wearing plaid, and photos taken around the event show the couple in their patterned ensembles.
Guests were also photographed as they boarded a yacht for the reception. The pair reportedly held their ceremony later that night at the Kampong National Tropical Botanical Gardens in Coconut Grove, per The Daily Mail.
She’s a former college athlete who grew up in Florida.
Lasichanh was born on July 22, 1980, and was raised in Florida. She attended St. Thomas University in Miami, where she was a standout volleyball player. In 2001, she was named Player of the Year in the Florida Sun Conference and was selected for the Women’s Volleyball All-Conference Team.
“She was very intense, but she would not necessarily express it verbally,” her coach, Hector Martinez, told the New York Post, describing her as “a quiet warrior.”
She and Pharrell share four children, including a set of triplets.
Lasichanh and Williams welcomed their first son, Rocket Ayer Williams, in November 2008. During a 2014 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Williams revealed the meaning behind Rocket’s name: “In the same way the Indians named their children after a force or animal or element, we named him after a man-made machine that was meant to go up, meant to ascend. Metaphorically, it was because of Stevie Wonder’s ‘Rocket Love,’ Elton John’s ‘Rocket Man,’ and Herbie Hancock’s ‘Rockit’—all of my favorite musicians.”
In January 2017, the couple became parents to triplets, whose names have not been shared publicly. A representative for the family confirmed the birth to Vanity Fair, stating that all three children and Lasichanh were “healthy and happy.”
Speaking to Today later that year, Williams described life with four children as “an assembly line.” He added, “They harmonize. It’s ‘Waah waah waah’—all at the same time. One cries, the next one cries, the next one cries. They’re hungry, they’re hungry, they’re hungry.” He also praised Rocket for being “an amazing big brother.”
Lasichanh’s strength during that period was a recurring theme in Williams’s interviews. “My wife is SEAL Team Six—there’s nothing she can’t do,” the “Happy” singer told Today. “I mean, she carried those three bodies, and she’s just on it all the time.”
In a December 2020 interview with Gwyneth Paltrow for Goop, Williams reflected on how his approach to parenting changed during Lasichanh’s pregnancy with the triplets: “For a lot of Rocket’s life, I was working so much that I had to bring my wife and him with me,” he said. “And he was not home a lot. And I realized I didn’t like that. So when Helen was pregnant with the triplets, I was just like we have to do something different.”
The couple initially spent the early years of raising their triplets in Los Angeles, but ultimately relocated. “That was too much for me,” he said. “Everything is so fear of missing out-based. I said I can’t raise my kids with this because I can’t compete with it…so now we relocated back to Miami.”
The experience of parenting during the pandemic also shifted his perspective. “For parents, you got to see who really wanted to be parents and who delegated all their duties to staff and people who work with them or family members. And then people who really wanted to be invested—and that’s when I became superdad. And I love it. I love being in it and not just seeing my kids two or three times a day.”
She’s kept a low public profile, despite her fashion presence.
Though Lasichanh regularly attends high-profile events, including Paris Fashion Week, award shows, and the Met Gala, she keeps her private life out of the spotlight and rarely speaks to the press. According to the New York Post, she’s been referred to as a model, stylist, and designer, though few details about her professional work have been confirmed publicly.
Fashion insiders, however, have long taken notice. “I love her style!” the late André Leon Talley once told the outlet. “Helen has this extraordinary quality where she can dress to the nines for the red carpet, or she can go around here with leggings.”
Lasichanh herself added “I don’t choose, it’s just who I am,” when asked about her fashion choices. She has been seen wearing pieces by designers like Lanvin and Chanel, frequently coordinating looks with Williams. Together, the couple has worn matching camouflage Louis Vuitton suits and Western-style Chanel ensembles.
“She’s covered up, but not in a prudish way,” former Essence editor-in-chief Constance White told the New York Post. “Part of what I think is notable is the fact that it isn’t the cookie-cutter red-carpet or wife-of-celebrity style, which tends to be very objectifying for women.”
Former InStyle editor-in-chief Laura Brown added: “Modesty on the red carpet can attract more attention than the reverse. I wish more women dressed like Helen.”
She and Pharrell are deeply committed to their family and to each other.
Despite their high-profile careers, Lasichanh and Williams have made a point of centering their relationship and family life. Williams has described her not just as his wife, but as his partner and best friend. “I love her because of everything that she is, good, bad, and indifferent,” he told People in 2018. “We share a space in love that is—I don’t possess her. You know, when I was young I used to say things like, ‘Oh, she’s mine.’ But she’s not mine. But she sure makes me feel like it.”
Speaking to Angie Martinez on Hot 97’s The Angie Martinez Show in 2013, Williams said the foundation of their relationship was built on honesty and friendship: “I just recommend that you get with your bestie…You start with a very open and honest rapport, so you never have to hide anything.”
In a 2017 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Williams said, “My wife is everything. I love you, baby. You’re the best.” During the interview, he also spoke in awe of what Lasichanh endured during her pregnancy with the triplets: “I have to say, my wife carrying those babies—and all of them are fine and healthy—man, I cannot say enough about women and all kinds of burdens that they carry and the gifts that they carry. I just can’t.”
Williams revisited the subject in a 2023 conversation on Drink Champs, sharing more about his admiration for Lasichanh. “My wife literally had four heartbeats in her body at one time because she had triplets,” he said. “She grew three sets of organs in her body while she had her own set of organs. My wife had four heartbeats going at once.”
She occasionally appears with Pharrell at philanthropic events and in his creative work.
While Lasichanh rarely shares her life publicly, she’s been involved in charitable appearances alongside Williams, including volunteer work with the Los Angeles Mission, per Daily Mail.
She’s also included in Piece by Piece, Pharrell’s animated documentary told through LEGO. The project includes voices and interviews from his parents, longtime collaborators, and Lasichanh.
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