At a glance, you could be forgiven for thinking that the new Louis Vuitton ad campaign features four promising young female models – emerging talent showcasing futuristic garb from a storied fashion house best known for its monogrammed luggage.
Yet while all those cast are certainly new names to have on your radar (Scottish beauty Lady Jean Campbell, for example), one is in fact Jaden Smith – the teenage son of Men in Black actor Will Smith.
The 17-year-old holds his own in an asymmetric skirt and tassled top in the image, which was released on Instagram by the brand’s creative director, Nicolas Ghesquiere. The campaign, titled Series 4, was taken by revered fashion photographer Bruce Weber, the man responsible for Abercrombie & Fitch’s legendary black and white campaigns.
Lending some serious street cred to the French fashion house, Smith is proof that the fashion world’s gender-fluidity movement isn’t going anywhere in 2016. If 2015 was the year that comeback brand Gucci made it hard to determine the gender of its catwalk models, 2016 looks set to be the one where the boundaries in ad campaigns become all the blurrier. It’s a movement Jaden will be perfectly comfortable with. Last year, he demonstrated his commitment to gender neutral dressing wearing a monochrome shift dress to a friend’s prom.
Jaden Smith is perhaps best known for appearing alongside his father Will in 2006 movie The Pursuit of Happyness. A film career followed: the 17-year-old was the star of The Karate Kid and has just finished a follow up to the movie. He’s also an accomplished rapper and keen fashion fan, as photographs on his instagram account Chrisitaingrey prove.
Jaden isn’t the only Smith to star in a high fashion campaign. Last year his little sister Willow, aged just 14, posed for Marc Jacobs in a campaign that also counted Cher, 69, and Winona Ryder, 44, amongst its cast.
