PAUSE Meets:
Jaden Smith
Expands on the MSFTSrep x New Balance 0.01, philosophy & acting on emotion as a creative.
“We’re Just Trying to Bring the Sun.”
A spotlight always seem to shine on Jaden, a man who needs very little in way of introduction. The multifaceted creative traverses an array of realms, more often than not championing a need for education, encouraging individuals that are paying close enough attention to think differently about the world around them. In essence, look up to the sky, dream bigger, and grow with what’s around you.
Founded in 2012, Jaden’s MSFTSrep epitomises this notion, and for its latest collaboration alongside New Balance, the sand and the sky act as a blank canvas, one where imagination and dreams are the catalyst for change in the world. Inspired by renaissance paintings of 1700s Florence as well as the natural world, the MSFTSrep x New Balance 0.01 starts fresh, merging the understated with the exaggerated. Moving away from the slightly more out there Vision Racer, MSFTSrep’s second signature shoe takes a classic low-top, court-style upper and places it on top of an oversized midsole and outsole, utilising proportions inspired by the Fibonacci Sequence and sacred geometry for entries that weave together heritage stylings with modernised designs. The “Up In the Clouds” pack sees the “Sky above” entry opt for a layered light blue and white cloud base, feeding into Jaden’s affections for Renaissance paintings, while the “Earth below” iteration boasts a creamy off-white cotton textile upper and synthetic leather collar, alluding to the feel and look of rich sandy beaches.
Hitting London’s Selfridges last night for a celebration of his latest New Balance release alongside his devoted community, Jaden sat down with PAUSE to share his thoughts and feelings towards the new 0.01, the philosophy behind his creativity, how legacy is formed and more.
Read it below.
(TW) It’s great to meet you, man.
It’s great to meet you too, bro.
(TW) Across the board musically, growing up with your music, I think one of your greatest strengths and superpowers is your openness and your vulnerability as an artist, and how you wear your heart on your sleeve. Does that ever come into play when you’re designing? How does that translate?
You said that you were growing up listening to my music. Is that for real? Do you actually listen to my music?
(TW) Yeah! I don’t know if you know Cornwall in the UK, but I took a trip there with friends and “Summertime in Paris” soundtracked that for me. Obviously, “Icon” was such a moment. I was at university when that popped off, it was going off in the clubs. I’m going to call my friend after this and tell him.
That’s fucking tight. Thank you, bro.
So your question was saying that I’m all sad and sh*t in my songs, and then I’m sad when I make clothes too.
(TW) More of a superpower, you know what I mean?
I think I get very angry about things in the world, and that inspires my designs a lot of the time, where it’s like, you know, oh, things are going this way. This might have happened in America, this might have happened in the world somewhere. I don’t like that. That bothers me. I want to design a shirt that’s a protest to that or a collection that’s anti-that. So, a lot of times it’s a little bit more aggressive and a little bit more like, yo, “f*ck that” energy when the designs are happening. Or, it’s just more of a curious space where it’s like, you know, I think pearls on shoes would maybe be cool. Let’s just do that kind of vibe.
(TW) Yeah, definitely. Adds a lot of texture. We were looking at it (the pieces) as we were coming in.
Yeah, they’re crazy.
(TW) Obviously, you have a storied history with New Balance and the Vision Racer so far, so how do these new pairs continue to build on that thematic foundation for you?
Yeah, I feel like it’s about the continuation of the legacy of what MSFTSrep is and the community and the people that have been tapped in with me here in London. They will know that I’ve been here with the community for a long time, just doing meet-ups, saying crazy stuff, creating clothes, creating music, creating a movement with my community here. I have so many friends that I’ve met here with the community.
So, yeah, I think everything that I just said about the community, and that really means the world for us now that we have a MSFTSrep shoe. Because it really represents those friendships, those bonds, the things that we talk about, the things that we believe in, and the change that we want to bring into the world. And that’s what MSFTSrep is all about. I feel like this shoe is a representation of that.
(TW) 100%. As a creative, you’re a philanthropist, you design clothes, you’re a musician, what emotion do you act on most as a creative? And how do you recognise when to act on it?
I think the biggest thing that I do all the time is create mood boards for any given idea or thing in my head that I have, whether it’s relevant or not. I think that’s my biggest thing, where I’ll get up out of bed and I’ll just start creating the mood board for the thing that I’m just thinking about. Because I need to get it out of my head.
(TW) It’s just an instant reaction.
Yeah. That’s the thing that I’m acting on most.
(MM) Can you tell us what the mood board looked like for this release?
For this release, it would be a lot of clouds. Clouds, sand, nature, and pearls. Also, just the fit of the clothes and the way that things should be worn with the shoes, things like that.
(MM) I’m curious, was that kind of like an oceanic vibe? Was it a happier approach?
These shoes were definitely designed in the summer. It’s like we’re in summer, we’re trippy, we’re feeling really good, that type of a vibe. It’s funny that we came here to London to launch the shoes! We’re just trying to bring the sun, bro. But no, it’s more about our community of why we’re here in London. The relationship that we have with Selfridges and the relationship that we have with our community here. Even building out, we have a MSFTSrep dinner in London later for our community members that have been around and really rock with us. Maybe stop by if you guys aren’t doing anything.
(TW) We’re always available. That’s our pleasure, 100%.
I spoke about your philanthropy and things like that, which I obviously admire. When did leaving something tangible behind become the mission for you? Or do you think that that concept of legacy isn’t entirely up to you on your own?
I think that it’s definitely not entirely up to me on my own, but I think that things that have been left behind, for example, Basquiat, Andy Warhol, Nas, the pyramids, they have had such a profound effect on me and who I am and have taken me out of the darkness and into the bright beams of the light. They showed me so much clarity and direction that it made me realise that leaving things behind has such a positive effect on people. It can be really good.
Having a legacy and having something to leave behind, it’s not really just doing it to do it, it’s more about how the next generation of people can use that to continue to perfect or drive down the f*cking road of what it is to be a human and continue to push that.
(TW) Yeah. I’ve been reading a few interviews with you recently. I know you have an affection for philosophy, reading into things quite deeply. I have a quote for you that I really like from Rollo May about creatives, and it says:
“They do not run away from non-being, but by encountering and wrestling with it, force it to produce being. They knock on silence for an answering music.”
As a creative yourself, how much of creation is about reaching out for something that you’re not always able to see in the beginning? And is it about trusting yourself and your taste?
Yeah, I think it’s about trusting yourself, and I think it’s about trusting the way, the flow and the dial of the world.
There’s a way that the world works, and people that don’t take crazy big risks aren’t getting those crazy big rewards. And the people that take crazy big risks are getting crazy big rewards, not every single time, but it’s a part of the flow of the universe, where you have to jump into the dark abyss and not know what’s going to happen. And in that trust that you provide in the universe, sometimes the universe, if it’s at the right moment, will give you that cushion and be like, “we’ve got you.” Exactly what you wanted to happen is going to happen.
(TW) That kind of hug.
Yeah, you know what I mean? And sometimes it doesn’t happen. But when it doesn’t happen, it makes the times it does so much better. And, you know, there’s no like rule book of exactly how sh*t is going to go all the time, but trusting in the universe is always just a pretty good idea.
(TW) I agree.
You just released a new project, so congratulations on that.
Thank you, bro.
(TW) It’s called 2024: A Case Study of the Long-Term Effects of Young Love (2024).
In your opinion and experience, how does the digital age skew our visions of love?
I think it really just skews our visions of ourselves and what’s important, and makes you be aware of so many different things in your life or in other people’s lives that could distract you from your purpose, your goal, your destiny, the reason that you’re here on the earth. And it’s really easy to get distracted and caught up into that stuff. You know what I mean? And other people’s stuff and the lives that they live, whether it’s real or it’s not, it’s all as engaging. It’s all the same. And I think that algorithms really are good at keeping us in that place and I think it’s important to have your own opinion, to go and look outside and decide how you feel about people, because there’s so many people that will post something and I’ll be like, “I despise this person now.” You know what I mean? They could be close to me. And then I can go and have a conversation with them in real life and be like, “okay, I don’t actually despise them.” Instagram really inflated my emotions around them. Maybe I don’t wanna hang out with them every day, but I don’t hate them. It’s not as serious as it was in the comments. It’s not that serious. And I think it’s really important to get that perspective on a daily basis, with everything. Where it’s like, that’s not real life. Those are the basics of it. That’s just not real life.
(TW) Yeah, so much gets lost in translation.
Yeah! And there can be so many opinions that exist there that you can’t find in real life. There are so many opinions on social media that are right there in your face when you get there that when you go outside on the street, you have to f*cking find. Where it’s like, “how can I search for this?” It was so present before, but now in real life, it’s gone. And it happens too much.
(MM) Agreed. Was there a turning point for you where you kind of made that realisation?
There were a lot of different turning points, I’ve seen that happen in my life a lot, but I think just more recently in my life, I had gone through so much stuff where I’ll feel a certain way about a person or I’ll think that a person or group of people feels a certain way about me, and then I’ll actually go outside and be like, “that’s not true.” I don’t know if you’ve ever been hit in the face really hard, it feels like your whole face is going like this…
(MM) I’m well aware of getting hit in the face…
It feels like your whole face is going like this and it’s like, dude, everybody here knows I got hit in the face. Nobody knows, if it was around the corner, nobody would know you just got hit in the face.
(MM) That’s a good point.
Right? But you’re thinking, everybody can see it because my face is swollen. It’s like, you didn’t even get hit in the face that hard. It’s not even red. Nobody knows that you just got hit in the face, but you’re looking at every single person in stark f*cking fear because you know 100% that they can see that your face is glowing and pumping because you just got hit in the face. That’s what it’s like to be on social media sometimes. It’s like, everybody knows I got hit in the face or everybody wants to hit me in the face, or everybody wants to hit each other in the face. And then you go outside and it’s like, “oh sh*t, it’s not exactly the way that I imagined it in my head. It’s different and I need to recalibrate to this reality.”
(TW) Yeah! As soon as you step outside, you have to kind of like, reset.
Yeah, and the goal is to, when you reset, not go back to the old way of thinking again and that’s what happens every time we re-log in onto Instagram or whatever else.
(MM) Do you have a way that you personally go from being inside and feeling claustrophobic to going outside and having that light? And then what do you do to make sure you don’t go back into it once you go outside and see everything?
I open up my phone and I delete Instagram. I log out. That’s the best way. Just straight up.
(MM) And you kind of just get the stress to leave your body at that point.
Well then I just don’t go on Instagram, and then I don’t get triggered and I don’t feel the feelings that I don’t want to feel. I can focus. Even when people do ping me or just text me or whatever, I will just block it. I’ll just turn my phone off.
(TW) We’ve seen contemporaries of yours like Amine, Action Bronson, and Jack Harlow collaborating with New Balance. What is it about the brand and the environment that they create that makes them so alluring to link up with so consistently?
I think New Balance is more of a family than anything, and that’s why it’s such an important company and why it’s seen so much growth in the world. When I came to join the company, it was at a time where nobody was really with the company. You know what I mean? Like, really, really early on times, I joined New Balance like before I made the ERYS (2019) album, before I made “Summertime in Paris” and sh*t. That was in 2019. I just wanted to be with them because nobody was really with them. And it seemed like a perfect opportunity to start a partnership, a friendship, and a business relationship.
(TW) Definitely. I mean, when I think about New Balance I do think of you as one of the early timestamps of it.
100%.
(MM) I’m curious, did you kind of see the vision when you first joined in 2019?
100%. It might have been 2018. I don’t know when we did join New Balance, but I did see the vision. In Philadelphia and Baltimore, New Balance has always been hot. And on the East Coast. You know, it’s always been the hot and the cool f*cking dope motherf*ckers that have been wearing New Balance for a long time, but it just wasn’t mainstream hot. And I’m just glad that it is now and that I did see the vision.
(TW) Talking about vision, the 0.01 feels like a fresh start and a bit like a blank canvas in comparison to the Vision Racer. What was the process timeline like for designing these latest colourways?
It was a long process, honestly, because when you’re dealing with a massive company, you want to give people and the company lead time, so it was a long process. It was a very fun and very tedious process, especially with these blue ones. It took us a really long time to get it right, to get it how we wanted it. The other sand ones that are made with hemp, it took us a really long time to make the hemp be how we wanted it to be. And to get this blue to feel like a cloud, to feel like a deep blue sea. It really took like seven or eight, nine months. It was like a baby.
We started working on all of the colourways when we started the original 0.01, so it’s literally been years. It’s been like a year and a half, maybe two years of working on this shoe.
(TW) Yeah, I found it hard to timeline them because I’ve been seeing them on your feet so much.
Yeah, yeah. I was paying attention to someone in the media saying, like, “when are they coming?”
(TW) Literally. And the black and white, that feels like the baseline.
100%. That was the baseline and this is now us being like, “okay, let’s get crazy.” I want f*cking six people to be able to walk into the room and somebody is maybe wearing all black and maybe somebody is wearing all these colours, and then somebody’s wearing sand and somebody’s wearing this or that.
(TW) Yeah, amazing.
(MM) 100%. What colours can we expect next?
I can’t talk about that, but it’s going to be exciting.
(MM) Do you have the same kind of bright palette that you’re going for right now?
We’ll see.
(TW) This is good journalism though!
Yeah, yeah, yeah!
(MM) Thank you, bro.
(TW) Thank you so much for your time, I appreciate it. I was a great pleasure to meet you.
Thank you guys.
The MSFTSrep x New Balance 0.01 “Up in the Clouds” capsule is available to shop now the New Balance website and at select retailers.
Follow Jaden Smith on Instagram
