STYLE EVOLUTION

Jaden Smith Keeps It Fresh on the Streets and the Red Carpet


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As heir to the Fresh Prince, Jaden Smith certainly has the sartorial chops to live up to his family legacy. Son of Will and Jada Pinkett and sister to Willow, he’s been dancing down the red carpet since he was a wee child. Over that time, he has gradually cultivated a style that’s all his own, beginning with embellished MCM leather jackets and evolving into a favorite of Nicolas Ghesquière, Karl Lagerfeld and Alessandro Michele. In short, no designer can own Jaden Smith. And even further, he’s defied gender norms in his fashion choices, sporting looks that traditionally read feminine — like skirts and florals — and masculine — like track suits and edgy leather — interchangeably. See his style evolution, here.

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It seems Jaden Smith was born knowing what to do about the pesky paparazzi, as seen here, en route to The Late Show with David Letterman in New York, New York, June 2010.

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And he never forgets to include sister Willow in the shot — here, they arrive together to the BET Awards in Los Angeles, California, June 2011.

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Many of the actor-musician-artist’s early forays into fashion involved embellished leather jackets — here, by MCM at the Kids’ Choice Awards in Los Angeles, California, March 2012.

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His style soon developed into a more street-ready aesthetic as he delved into adult films, like After Earth, which he premiered here in Seoul, South Korea, May 2013.

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A bit of a dandyish flair comes into play with an all-white suit for another After Earth premiere in New York, May 2013.

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Still, there’s nothing like matching red carpet kimonos with your sibling. Willow and Jaden Smith at the Los Angeles premiere of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, November 2013.

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Not to be outdone by his sister’s constantly evolving style, Smith wore an oversized sweatshirt with slim track pants for Roc Nation’s pre-Grammy brunch in Los Angeles, California, January 2014.

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A Kid Super baseball cap, a pair of slender-fitting track pants and nd sneakers with a bit of neon duct tape over the toe. Smith tends towards an irreverent approach to fashion, here at a screening for Paper Towns in West Hollywood, California.

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More recently, Smith has started popping up in front rows at fashion week; his sister Willow was recently dubbed Karl Lagerfeld’s ambassador for Chanel, while back in March, Jaden Smith (wearing Louis Vuitton, naturally) posed with Louis Vuitton designer Nicolas Ghesquière at the Fall 2016 presentation in Paris, France.

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Like brother, like sister, Willow and Jaden rock coordinating Chanel ensembles for the Met Gala in New York, May 2016.

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But, proving he won’t be wedded to one designer alone, Smith returns to Louis Vuitton threads for the label’s Cruise 2017 show in Niteroi, Brazil, May 2016.

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Smith is also a budding designer in his own right — here, he wears a baseball cap from his MSFTS collection, combined with a black hoodie (a staple of his sartorial diet) for the launch of OUE Skyspace LA in Los Angeles, California, July 2016.

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Jaden Smith has never played by the rules of the runway — here, he wears an overcoat from Louis Vuitton’s womenswear line, a piece originally modeled by Lineisy Montero in the Pre-Fall 2016 lookbook, for the premiere of Suicide Squad in New York, August 2016.

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Fitting for someone whose aesthetic has defied the conventions of gender both on the red carpet and in his street style, Smith most recently cultivated a relationship with Gucci’s Alessandro Michele, here wearing one of his designs for a premiere of The Get Down in the Bronx, New York, August 2016.

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Combining his own MSFTS label with a floral, embroidered leather jacket by Gucci (a throwback to his younger days, when embellished leather was his red carpet go-to), Smith steps out with girlfriend Sarah Snyder for a Young Hollywood party hosted by Variety in Los Angeles, California, August 2016. NB: Always accessorize with a water bottle.