It’s big. It’s bold. It’s something you would wear every day—to a costume party, that is.
We’re talking about Jaden Smith’s debut collection as the first men’s creative director of Christian Louboutin. It was unveiled in an immersive exhibition, titled “The Loubi Show,” at the historic theater of Le Trianon in France during Paris Fashion Week.
The exhibition, as the house describes it, blurs the boundaries “between fashion, visual art, music and history, and reflecting both the Maison’s legacy and his own personal creative language.” It features an elaborate set with various installations that drew from a plethora of influences—from Greek mythology and Great Paris Exhibitions to Dadaism and the great movement for Civil Rights.
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The core of this exhibition is, of course, the house’s Fall/Winter 2026 collection. Smith describes it as an ode to all artisans and working men throughout the centuries, from stone masons and scribes to doctors. “It’s inspired by the lost epochs of time and made by hands born from stars forged under immense pressure deep in cosmic space,” the 27-year-old actor, rapper, and now fashion designer said.
The exhibition unfolds with some of the house’s signature pairs. The Trapman silhouette was reinvented by Smith with a touch of 1990s hip-hop—a formative era for the star. “Hip-hop culture is at the centre of my design philosophy while creating the formal attire for the men of the future,” he told Fashion Network.
There’s also the Corteo, which was initially introduced as part of the Christian Louboutin Fall/Winter collection in 2019. Its reinvention in Smith’s debut collection is a nod to “the businessman, the working man—people who wear a suit, who show up with intention, who build something through discipline and effort.”
These two pairs, and the rest of the collection, were celebrated artfully at the exhibit—some pairs were stashed with a mound of TV sets, while others were placed inside interactive light boxes. A few were toppled on classical Greek columns, while some were displayed in a wooden structure Smith calls “the first 3D glasses.” Many were found in shelves inside a giant, red exploding head. All of which were designed to highlight the artistic, often hand-crafted, nature of the footwear.
The collection’s unmistakable highlight is a series of knee-high boots turned avant-garde with bright red, shaggy fur all over. It’s less of a footwear and more of a costume. Even WWD describes it as “Chewbacca-esque,” while Fashionography says that it looks as if the wearer “is slowly being consumed by Elmo.”
Another standout, albeit for unexpected reasons, is Smith’s reinvention of the classic Louboutin dress shoe. Similar to his big red boots, the shoe is guzzled up by layers of fringe, turning it into a mop head—but with laces. Even when all the fluff is removed, the shoes remain as something straight out of sci-fi dystopia—with Christian Louboutin’s iconic red sole, but they were reinvented with chunky, jagged edges that are certainly difficult to walk in.
Other out-there designs include the combat boots dunked in red, black, or white goo, as well as the quilted boots that are shaped like armadillos. Then there are the hole-punched loafers, which Smith crafted from the concept of being one with nature. He explained to WWD, “It’s about humanity’s connection to nature and being able to feel the wind, the temperature, and atmosphere through your shoes. Usually, shoes are to protect you from the outside, but I wanted to kind of blur the line of what shoes are.”
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Another piece designed to start conversations, if not raise eyebrows, is the black utility harness with multiple pockets designed to be worn under a suit. “It’s kind of a new dress code we refer to as TCT formal attire, where it’s more of a tactical dress code where you have a lot of utility and pockets and kind of tactical behavior happening,” he explained.
While the collection is mostly made of pieces that are aggressively impractical, there are still some that consider the reality of sidewalks, gravity, and other matters of everyday life. There are a couple of skate shoes, wrestling boots, and low-top basketball kicks that are relatively unadorned, making them more ideal for fans of the practical and the wearable.
A lot is definitely going on in the debut collection of the Icon hitmaker, but mind you, all these are grounded in his design philosophy that’s beyond superficial. He said he usually crafts his pieces in reference to “quantum physics and mechanics, like the dead cat experiment, where we don’t know what’s going on in spaces that we can’t see into.”
“But we do know that atoms and very small molecules change when they’re being observed,” he continued. “And that idea is the basis of a lot of my design philosophy and a lot of my designs.”
Christian Louboutin’s first men’s creative director
Smith, who’s the son of celebrity couple Will and Jada Smith, was appointed as Christian Louboutin’s first men’s creative director in September 2025. It’s a bold choice that took the industry and the internet by surprise, with many people calling it as “peak nepotism.”
It was widely considered a bad move since the 27-year-old lacks the extensive experience needed to enter one of the toughest industries to break into in the world. Smith has been a regular at fashion shows for years and is a long-time collaborator with New Balance. He also co-own MSFTSrep, a unisex streetwear brand catering millennial and fellow Gen Z. Still, many thought that it’s quite a leap.
Louboutin, on the other hand, remains optimistic of his label’s future with the young lad. The French designer founded his when he was 28, just a year older than Smith is now. He also admitted admiring him for his enthusiasm, more than anything else.
“I am convinced by his creativity, but I am also happy to have an intelligent voice from a different generation at my side,” Louboutin told Le Figaro newspaper following Smith’s appointment. “Today he lacks technique but he’s starting to learn,”
“What you cannot learn is enthusiasm and taste and passion. All that, he has,” the fashion icon concluded.
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