Jaden Smith is the August 2016 cover model for Nylon Magazine. Between starting conversations about his gender-fluid style and becoming the face of Louis Vuitton womens wear at just 17 years old, the actor has made quite a statement.
Known for wearing skirts from time to time, the 18-year-old is comfortable in the freedom of being a gender-nonconforming teen when it comes to expressing his style and taste.
When asked where he draws his confidence from, he replies, “You just have to believe in yourself, you know. The world is going to keep bashing me for whatever I do, and I’m going to keep not caring. I’m going to keep doing the same things — I’m going to keep doing more things.”
From starring in movies, having pensive Twitter updates, challenging social norms, and even having his own clothing line … he continues to flourish and grow.
Aware of his public platform, the son of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith is not bothered by the people who make fun of him.
The confident star says: “I’m going to take the most blows for my fellow MSFTS. So, you know, in five years, when a kid goes to school wearing a skirt, he won’t get beat up and kids won’t get mad at him. It just doesn’t matter. I’m taking the brunt of it so that later on, my kids and the next generations of kids will all think that certain things are normal that weren’t expected before my time.”
It’s almost shocking that at 18 he’s so self-aware and self-sacrificing in attempts to do better for the greater good. Most recently, he’s starring in the new Netflix series The Get Down about the birth of hip-hop in the late 1970s in New York City. The opportunity to essentially “time travel” through acting back to the 70s has increased his self-awareness on the effects of the internet.
“They were more dedicated to learning and I feel like that is not something that we necessarily have right now. People would go to record stores and actually buy the records they wanted. They would go to bookstores and read up on Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Gandhi, and all these different people. And now we just have the internet to do everything for us,” he concluded.
Eighteen, self-aware, curious, fearless; Jaden Smith is truly a force to be reckoned with.
You can read the full interview and see the entire editorial, here.
SOURCE: Nylon | PHOTO CREDIT: Instagram, Getty
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