As a regular on the fashion week circuit, Jaden Smith is known to turn up at runway shows in front row looks that rival the catwalk — and often those that come directly from them.
But it was his own designs at Paris Fashion Week last fall that proved to be one of the multi-hyphenate’s most compelling looks yet. And it just so happens to be inspired by his megastar father, Will Smith.
Attending Stella McCartney’s spring summer ’23 runway show at Paris Fashion Week in October 2022, Jaden sported a vintage-inspired black suit from his MSFTSrep collection. With it, he wore a black headpiece resembling a large flower, an accessory that runs throughout the MSFTSrep spring summer ’23 collection that launches later this month.
“I wanted to make people into plants, to turn people into flowers. Being part of nature is the highest level of consciousness,” Jaden explained in an exclusive interview as part of his FN cover shoot, where he also wore the floral headpiece. “I thought back to an episode of the ‘Fresh Prince’, where something happens that my dad has to dress up like a sunflower. The episode was super embarrassing for him. But I was like this is an amazing idea of how to turn someone into a flower.”
The result is an accessory that mirror’s the memorable “Fresh Prince” episode from 1993 and also feels entirely current and authentic to the young designer’s aesthetic philosophy.
“I’ve been making these new headpieces as a kind of psychedelic statement piece that you would wear to show people how you feel about the world and how different and strange you might be,” said Jaden. “Because everything we do with the brand is catered to people who feel different and weird, like they don’t fit in. There’s a pain sometimes, when you feel like you are something else, that you can’t express yourself, and there’s a pain when you can’t express yourself. So this is for those people who just want to express themselves. It makes people smile.”
Below, Jaden weighs in on three more of his best front row Paris Fashion Week looks from the past year:
Louis Vuitton at Paris Fashion Week, October 2022
“That was one of my favorite outfits I’ve ever worn. I felt so good. I call it the gladiator piece. There’s a little belt and it wraps around your waist. And then I’m wearing my Louis Vuitton jeans with my New Balances and that awesome bag. I love the fact that I could wear this and show some skin. I love Nicolas’ [Ghesquière’s] world building; he can build a world and create codes and boundaries for himself and stay within those for an entire collection. And then also jump completely out of it into another universe.”
Thom Browne at Paris Fashion Week, October 2022
I love Thom, I love everyone who works in the company and their dedication to their codes and
how specifically they think about everything — down to the details like the watch on the button-down shirt. How they made this particular suit is just so detailed. They let me wear baggy pants, and they let me wear my New Balances and it was just so cool. [Thom’s] collections are a whole world within themselves, and he is a master artist, an historian. The clothes are fantastical. His shows are theatrical, they are entertaining, they have a storyline and something you are supposed to take away.”
Kenzo at Paris Men’s Fashion Week, June 2022
“That was a beautiful show. It was very collegiate. This is high-level streetwear. It just felt very at home, like New York street hip-hop culture, that’s what I mean when I say at home. It felt very hip-hop and relevant. I loved the show. It was a dope meeting between a collegiate and nautical vibe. I’m pretty sure it was held at a high school in Paris? It had that vibe.”
