Gender fluidity is big business in fashion right now…
Last year was all about gender fluidity in the fashion world and it seems the trend has continued into 2016 as Jaden Smith has been revealed as the new face of Louis Vuitton’s Spring/Summer 2016 womenswear campaign.
Two exciting new shots by famed fashion photographer Bruce Weber, were posted on Instagram by the brand’s artistic director Nicolas Ghesquière on January 2nd and captioned: ‘Happy to introduce Jaden Smith in the new SS16 [Louis Vuitton] ad Campaign photographed by Bruce Weber’.
One of the photos features Jaden wearing a black leather jacket and pleated skirt surrounded by other female models against the backdrop of a brick wall. A solo shot of Jaden in the same clothing with his eyes shut, was also posted.
The 17-year-old rapper-actor son of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith is a big fan of androgynous styling (making him a perfect choice for the fashion house) and famously stepped out wearing a black and white t-shirt dress in May 2015 as he attended a high school prom with Hunger Games actress Amandla Stenberg.
Prior to that, in May 2015, Jaden attended Coachella music festival with Kylie and Kendall Jenner wearing a floral print dress and matching red flowers in his hair. In the same month he was also pictured in California wearing a long sleeve black dress layered underneath a white crocheted sleeveless top and black jeans. At the time, Smith uploaded a photo of himself in the outfit on Twitter with the caption: 'Went To TopShop To Buy Some Girl Clothes, I Mean "Clothes”.'
Evidently the teen doesn’t give two hoots about perceived gender norms when it comes to choosing his outfits which is pretty refreshing. Go, Jaden.
Other male stars who have been rocking a similar style as of late include Kanye West, Ewan McGregor and Gerard Butler, all of whom have been seen sporting a 'man-skirt'. And with this bold new move from Louis Vuitton it looks like the blurring of gender boundaries within fashion looks set to continue as a major trend for some time yet…