Look up any top ten list of 21st century style icons and you’ll likely find Jaden Smith’s name on it. His approach to style is not only unique and highly creative, it’s also forward thinking. He’s been on the vanguard of mixing high and low, street and runway, menswear with womenswear, and even appeared in the groundbreaking and highly popular campaign for Louis Vuitton’s spring 2016 womenswear collection.
For Jaden, getting dressed is about maximizing self expression, both aesthetically and socially. By mixing menswear with women’s wear, he challenges notions of what a person is supposed to wear, embracing a style that speaks not only to creativity, but inclusivity as well. That said, he tends to shy away from thinking too much about great outfits, and instead prefers to focus on how clothes are constructed, and how to put things together for both looking cool and being out in the world. “I feel like there’s a lot of things to learn from outfits that you put together that you don’t like,” he says. “So I don’t really try to always put together good outfits.”
Ultimately, when it comes to Jaden’s style, customization is king. Which, for someone who once used his shorn locks as an accessory, makes a lot of sense. “I love to customize things. I love to customize my Levi’s and screen print on them, and do all different types of things on them.”
It’s exactly the sort of creativity that he brings to everything in his life—whether he’s getting dressed, performing, writing music, or working with his non-profit 501CTHREE.
We caught up with Jaden on the set of our 501® Originals Campaign shoot, see what he has to say.