We sat down with actor, musician, environmentalist, entrepreneur, superstar and now fashion designer Jaden Smith ahead of his performance at the G-Star RAW Oxford Street store to chat about all things eco, in particular his new Forces of Nature collection for the brand.
Dressed almost head to toe in the ecru pieces from his line; teamed with the Vuitton tech trainers he’s rarely seen without, dyed hair and freshly bleached eyebrows to match, Smith is quiet and unassuming before the performance. Not what you’d expect from one of the world’s biggest stars.
Having co-founded Just Water with his dad, Will Smith, a water company promoting a paper-based bottle with sugarcane cap, ethically sourced and bottled, his environmentally friendly streak shows no signs of slowing down.
The twenty year old designed the collection in three colourways, inspired by the beauty and power of nature, water (blue), earth (ecru) and eclipse (black). The collection is made up of hoodies, patchwork denim, t-shirts and accessories including caps and bum bags. The jackets are printed with bold prints of scenes in nature and printed with RAW.
Every part of the line has been carefully designed in innovative ways to be the best for the environment. Made from sustainable materials, and using the first ever Cradle to Cradle Gold Level Certified™ denim, the 100% organic line ensures less water, less chemicals and less energy throughout the entire process.
To celebrate the launch of his new line, Smith surprised fans at the G-Star RAW Oxford Street store with a performance inside. Running through his greatest hits, we sat down for a quick chat before he took to the stage.
I really like all the bold prints in the collection, what inspired them?
It definitely was inspired by old hunting paintings and things like that, old camo print for people that would go hunting, but it’s definitely the opposite of a hunting uniform, it’s the uniform of somebody who wants to protect the environment. And to help the environment and to strive for a better world.So instead of a hunting uniform it’s like a peace uniform almost, and that’s why we disrupted it and cut it up and made it our own.
At one with nature as opposed to challenging it.
Totally.
You’re obviously really well known for being really big on the environment, how did sustainability relate to the concept and design of the line?
It relates to it because it shows what we’re trying to save. Along with ourselves, because we’re obviously trying to save ourselves, we’re obviously trying to save our health, our future children ,the people we love, but we get to see that every day. But what some people don’t get to see every day when you’re in the city, is the nature, the waterfalls, the animals just grazing, the eclipses, you know? So it’s really all about displaying nature.
What does sustainability in fashion mean to you and what do you think is it’s biggest obstacle?
Sustainability in fashion is something I think about every day, and I think its biggest obstacle is people not being aware of what’s happening with sustainability in fashion or you know, sustainability in general. And that’s why I wanted to partner with G-Star, because they’re actually aware of the impact that clothing has on the earth and its production, and they’re aware of their footprint so that’s how they can lower it to the point that they do.
I watched something about the life cycle of a cotton t-shirt, the water from growing the cotton, how many washes etc., it's surprising.
Yeah it really is so important.
A lighter question, who are your biggest style influences for what you wear personally?
For what I wear personally batman definitely is a huge style influence, I would say the biggest. Pharrell is major, one of my biggest style influences, and Poseidon. You know, Poseidon, I really feel comes through with the drapes, he comes through dripping half the time, and it’s inspirational.
Can’t beat a god. You do so many things, do you draw on personal experience for your creativitiy or is more just from your imagination?
I do draw from personal experience for my creativity, definitely, my albums are inspired by real events, and everything is inspired by something I’ve actually gone through.
The Forces of Nature collection is now available in G-Star stores and on g-star.com
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