GQ Editor Will Welch Leaves Magazine to Work With Pharrell Williams

GQ editor Will Welch is leaving the company. 

The editor, who was named the editor of American GQ in 2018 and its global editorial director in 2020, wrote on Instagram that he will be leaving to work with Pharrell Williams in Paris. Welch did not yet specify details on the job, but said it’s a new role with the musician, who is also the men’s creative director of Louis Vuitton.

“Y’all, logging on with a wild mix of emotions to announce that after almost 19 years, I’ve decided to leave GQ for another opportunity. My last day at Condé Nast will be Feb 15th,” Welch wrote on Instagram. 

Condé Nast did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the search for a successor. 

Welch wrote that he had worked at GQ for close to 19 years, eventually rising up to be editor. During his tenure, he also oversaw Conde Nast’s music publication, Pitchfork. 

“I would like to thank the global GQ and Pitchfork teams past and present. The Newhouse family, Roger Lynch, Stan Duncan, and, of course, THEE boss, mentor and ultimate support superstructure, Anna Wintour. Change is good,” Welch wrote. 

His departure comes after editors at American Vogue and Vanity Fair also stepped away from their roles last year, and amid high-profile layoffs at Teen Vogue.