Following in the footsteps of Kurt Cobain, Marc Jacobs (whose fondness is mostly for Prada pencil skirts these days), and one half of The Garden twins Fletcher Shears, Jaden Smith has hopped aboard the man dress train. Thursday, the 16-year-old swapped his usual red carpet kimono and Batman costume for a black sweatshirt dress and white crocheted tank top, tweeting “That Moment When Your Wearing A Dress With No Pants And You Swerve Way To Hard.[sic]” When Three6 Mafia comes on after one too many drinks, I feel you on that one, Jaden.
Here’s Jaden Smith Wearing an Actual Dress — JAM (@jamjamtv)April 10, 2015
The pantsless move comes after men in dresses became NYFW’s most radical trend. Hood by Air’s Shayne Oliver sent models down the runway clad in black jersey dresses with sky high slits all the way up to the hip bone, while Telfar Clemens’ collection saw sweaters worn as mini-dresses with a leg warmer situation to match. Man skirts have appeared on the runway as early as 85 thanks to Jean Paul Gaultier, but have been enjoying a Renaissance as of late thanks to the likes of Riccardo Tisci and Kanye West. Yet outside of fashion’s more daring or conceptual circles, man dresses have yet to make a similar impact.
It’s actually really dope to see someone so young and high profile pushing past the gender binary without standing on a Tumblr soapbox. “Went to TopShop to buy some Girl Clothes I Mean ‘Clothes,'” Jaden captioned a selfie in a striped frock two days prior. With and Selfridges and thecorner.com making concerted efforts to realize and normalize a genderless retail experience, “clothes” is spot on.
Credits
Text Emily Manning
Photography Columbine Goldsmith
Styling Djuna Bel