PAUSE Meets:

Julez Smith.

Talks new brand, legacy & personal influences.

Photographer: Daniel Prakopcyk | @daniel

Stylist: Taija-Leorelle Weekes | @taija_leorelle

Creative Direction: Johnson Gold & Taija-Leorelle Weekes

Producer: Johnson Gold | @johnson_gold

Interview: Lynn Mongamelli | @mongamelii

Hair & Make Up Artist: Jennifer Buchalla | @jenniferbuchalla

Videographer: Kwabena Boateng | @kobeboateng

Assistant Photography: Kevin Faulkner & Bryant Woolcock

“I wanna inspire people to get fly. Never let nobody take you off your groove.”

Julez Smith moves in quiet elegance. Subtle, Southern, and effortlessly poised. He is the product of legacy and self-discovery, of Parisian sidewalks and New Orleans soul, of family roots that bloom in both couture and creativity. Born into a lineage steeped in cultural significance, Julez didn’t just inherit style, he made it his own dialect. Though the son of Solange Knowles, he’s never stood in a shadow. He’s stood beside legacy, letting it inform and not define him.

With runways in Brooklyn and Paris behind him, and a new brand on the horizon, Julez stands at the intersection, as a young creative with deep intention. His story is not just about clothing, but about cadence. A visual language woven from Marvin Gaye melodies, cowboy hats, minimalist silhouettes, and of course, the power of showing up fly.

In PAUSE’s exclusive cover story, Julez Smith invites us into his orbit. This isn’t just a feature, It’s a portrait of style as storytelling, and Julez, in every sense, is the narrator of his own beautifully stitched future.

Let’s start from the beginning — what were the early influences that helped shape your sense of style and creativity?

I will say, of course, my family. Them just being fashionable throughout my whole childhood. They raised me to be fashionable, and I was blessed enough to travel a lot, growing up and seeing different cultures and how people dress. I think that’s another huge key to my style, because I’ve seen every style that you could think of from every culture. I would say those two things mostly.

When you’ve travelled, what places have been a big influence on your style?

I grew up speaking French in school and stuff, so my mom used to take me to Paris a lot as a kid. I didn’t appreciate it as much [then] but now that I’ve gotten older, I do. When I turned 12 or 13 years old, I started to go to Paris and really look at people’s outfits, like people really try to dress up every day in Paris. It’s never a sweatpants and hoodies day, at least from the people that I see, it’s always, suit and tie. High fashion. They’re trying to put on their best outfits. So, I think just incorporating that into my life now, like I still have my bummy days where I don’t want to dress up at all, but I got a lot of inspiration from out there.

Growing up surrounded by fashion — from your grandmother’s costume design to your mum’s cultural impact — how did that background influence and inform your personal identity?

I think that shaped the whole of who I am. I mean, as pretty much everyone, I feel like you get your DNA from your roots. And I feel like that’s, that’s mostly what I see in my brain. Growing up, seeing my grandma making costumes and my mom getting fly for shoots and shows, and the same thing with my aunt and just everyone I was really surrounded by was really fly. I didn’t really have a choice but to see fashion.

You’ve mentioned the DNA from your family. If you had to sum it up in about three words, what would you say your DNA is when it comes to fashion and style?

I would say subtle. I would say, Southern. What’s the last word? I would say, subtle, Southern and elegant. I’ll say that. I’ll take that.

Glasses – Gentle Monster x Maison Margiela, Shirt – Kyle Ho, Gloves – Kyle Ho, Trousers – Kyle Ho, Hat – Maurice Hats, Boots – Julez Own

At what point did you realise that fashion wasn’t just part of your world — it was something you could personally contribute to?

I lived in New Orleans for a long time, and I never really took my fashion seriously, because it was always too hot to dress up. And I was an athlete growing up, so, I was very into sportswear, tracksuits, whatever. But when I moved to LA for high school, a lot of the people that I was around were dressing up and getting haircuts every week and, you know, trying to look presentable. So probably like my 10th grade. 2020, 2021 is when I started expanding into fashion. Started to want to get cooler pieces, wanting to get boots and stayed away from basketball shoes and just started expanding my fashion horizon.

From walking for Luar in Brooklyn to modelling for KidSuper in Paris, how did you breakthrough the fashion industry and model across such different runways and atmospheres?

First and foremost, it’s a blessing. I thank God in my process through everything. And I think it’s just a testament of who I am and what comes with work. I was about like 175lbs weight wise, and I used to eat a bunch of fried food, and I still do, but less. And now I’m probably like, 153lbs or 152lbs and that’s in the span of maybe nine months, eight months. I’ve lost like 25 pounds. So just taking care of myself and making sure my skin is good. A lot of modelling is about your face card. So, you could be fly or not, but if you look good, you know you’re going to get booked. I recently, in the past, like two months, have just been trying to post more on social media. I’ve never been a huge poster, but it comes with the job. I think just showing face and taking care of yourself and building those connections with people. I think that all comes with growing in your fashion career.

Jacket – Unvain Studios, Skirt – Unvain Studios, Trousers – Unvain Studios, Boots – Golden Goose

Sunglasses – Gentle Monster, Coat – Chaleur, Vest – 3.Paradis, Jeans – 3.Paradis, Shoes – Bluemarble, Bags – Louis Vuitton

It’s a bit of a full circle moment here, isn’t it? Your mom takes you to Paris when you’re younger, and then you end up eventually going there on your own right as a model. What does that full circle moment feel like for you, having broken into an industry that is so exclusive?

To be honest, I never saw myself, even on those young trips going to Paris – I never envisioned myself doing anything like this. At first, when I first started modelling it was a shock. I wouldn’t say I don’t think I was fit for it, but it was, for sure, like, ‘Okay, this is a new world, I have to ease into it.’ I’ve been modelling for like a year and a half, so I’ll probably say over the past, like, six months, it’s really started to settle in, like, ‘Okay, this is my life. This is what I will be doing for the next couple of years, for sure.’ And it’s just let me just take it as far as I can, you know. It’s a huge blessing but it was for sure, a shock at first, I’ll say that.

Sunglasses – Gentle Monster, Grillz – Luxe Grillz, Jacket – Unvain Studios , Skirt – Unvain Studios, Trousers – Unvain Studios , Boots – Golden Goose

After so many seasons on the Fashion Week circuits. Which cities have been your favourite to walk so far? Which show has been your favourite?

I would for sure say Paris. Paris is probably the most exciting city model wise and shows I did. I’ve done a couple of good shows. I really liked my Bluemarble show recently. I had some cowboy type pants on and those are super fly. My Luar shows have been amazing too. I can’t discredit Raul – he’s a creative genius. I’ll say those two.

Glasses – Gentle Monster x Maison Margiela, Shirt – Kyle Ho, Gloves – Kyle Ho, Trousers – Kyle Ho, Boots – Julez Own

What about those shows, specifically make them your favourites?

Raul is family so it’s more of a personal connection with him. And I think he just steps out of the box from someone from New York. You don’t see a lot of the buttons on the shoulder and the slicks down the arms and stuff like that. It’s a lot of creativity from his point of view that a lot of people don’t see in New York or really in the world. Raul, like I said, I have been knowing him since I was a baby, so it’s more just like a personal, family type of thing. And I was really blessed to get that opportunity from him to start.

From looking at your social media, your personal wardrobe choices reflect a sharp eye — designers such as Wales Bonner, Martine Rose make an appearance. What draws you to these designers specifically?

Grace-Wales Bonner is probably my favourite designer, if I’m being honest. I think her cuts and corners on her shirts, and the material on her clothes from just top to bottom – I can talk 30 minutes about Wales-Bonner if I’m being honest. But they just do everything to perfection in my eyes. From their suits to their tracksuits to sneakers. I probably wear the Grace-Wales Bonner x Adidas Samba sneakers every day. And then Martine Rose, graphic wise, they’re probably my favourite graphic brand. From the shirts to the hoodies. I would consider Martine Rose as high fashion, but they still have a streetwear element to them, which is really the perfect balance. You can go out in Martine, you can chill out at the crib in Martine, like it’s everything.

Durag – Birth of Royal Child, Top – MM6 Maison Margiela, Denim shirt (Tied around waist) – Gucci, Jeans – Gucci, Boots – MM6 Maison Margiela.

The designers we’re talking about, they have a distinct narrative to the brand. In the same way, do you see style as a form of storytelling?

1,000%. I think just like every other art, like, directors put their mind and process into films and authors put it into books. I think people that don’t have that side of creativity, they put their thoughts and their emotions into their outfits, or into their styling process. And you can look at it as in fashion, like art there are people that are going through stuff, and they might be dressed in all black. You know, there’s categories of emotions with outfits. I think of course you can tell a story.

In that way, what does your style say about you? What’s your story from your outfits?

I think it varies, man. I think people go through ups and downs in life. So, I can’t really say it’s one story. But if you look back at what I was dressing like as a baby. My mom was dressing me. My mom and grandma had primarily dressed me, and I was fly. Like, I was a fly ass baby. But that comes from them. This is their vision of how they want their baby to dress. And then as I got older, I was into sports. You could see me wearing basketball shorts, jerseys and tracksuits every day. l didn’t have a pair of jeans that I was wearing at all. And then once I got older – all right, cool – this is Julez trying to look more presentable, getting older. Now I’m dressing more proper. And then I got into the model world, it’s more suits. It’s more high fashion pieces because I’m going to an event or I have to look presentable.

It’s clear that there’s a ton of influences that amalgamated to create your story. As we’ve seen, music often influences fashion and vice versa — what’s currently on your playlist, and how does it reflect where you’re at creatively?

I have a friend. His name is Prada, and he’s from New Orleans, and that’s probably about 70% of the music I listen to. A lot of old schools. A lot of Marvin Gaye right now, a lot of Isley Brothers. I listen to my mom’s first tape a lot right now, I think that production is crazy. My aunt’s tour is about to start, so I’ve been revisiting the cowboy Carter album in the past two weeks. But I would say a lot of my friends make music, so I listen to my friends, and we all inspire each other, because we all get fly, like every one of my friends can dress. We are bouncing ideas with outfits and music. Both of those worlds collide, so we just help each other out in all aspects.

Do you feel your outfits often reflect what you’re listening to?

I would say 50/50. Sometimes I just go in my closet and pick out an outfit. But sometimes there’s a theme of that day. I just recently started wearing cowboy stuff because of the tour, and because it’s just fly as hell. But there’s for sure certain days where I’m in a more dark, Gothic mood. I’m going to go all black, maybe some leather biker pants, you know, or maybe it might be a sunny day outside. I might throw some Golf shorts on, some colourful button-ups. It just varies depending on the mood.

Your mum is arguably one of the most stylish and culturally impactful people around -what is one thing you learned from her that has helped you in your own journey?

Earlier when you asked me those three words that would describe my style, the simplicity aspect, for sure comes from my mom. I wouldn’t even say, arguably, I would say my mom is the best when it comes to non-branding clothes and pieces that people would look at them and they look like regular pieces but she knows how to put them into an art form and make them to be like, okay, nobody else can really put this together and make it look as fly with just some regular slacks and a blazer. So that’s where I get that aspect of, I don’t need too much to look fly. I can still do a white tee with a cool, simple jacket and make it look amazing. So that’s the part I would say I get from my mom.

Drawing inspiration from your mom, are you interested in stepping beyond modelling, behind the scenes or into other spaces —design, creative direction, or maybe something entirely different?

I’m actually working on a clothing brand right now, to be released when it’s released. It’s going to be nice. It’s going to be like Martine Rose – a mixture of streetwear, high fashion, women’s wear, everything you can ask for. That’s what I’ve been working on in the fashion aspect. And I’m tapped in musically through everything. Like I said, a lot of my friends make music so I’m in the studio till two, three in the morning helping them on their songs, helping them put their tapes together. I feel like I have a little bit of an advantage when it comes to hearing a hit and hearing the sound. I just go help my homies out when it comes to that. But I’m really just focusing on my brand right now.

Durag – Birth of Royal Child, Top – MM6 Maison Margiela.

Has this always been the plan or is a this a newly discovered expression?

I’ve been wanting to make a clothing line since I was in eighth grade, but I’m also not a believer in just Alright, cool – let me just put a logo on a shirt and sell it because I have an audience. I’ve been working on this brand for probably a year, and some change, like this actual process of putting it out. I want it to be something respectful and something that people can look at and be like, ‘Okay, this is a real brand. Like, let me go support this. Not just all right, let me buy a T Shirt and give Julez some money.’

With all the creative influences in your life, if you could collaborate with any brand or creative dead or alive, who would that be?

I’ll say two of them. I would have loved to walk for Virgil Abloh. I was a huge fan of Virgil. He was probably my fourth or third fashion influence, and I had a lot of respect for him and his hard work. And a Wales Bonner and my brand collab would be crazy. That’s probably top of the line for me.

You mentioned that you said you had three people that have been your biggest passion influences. Who are they?

My mom. Number one for sure. Then two and three are interchangeable. I’ll probably say Virgil Abloh and then 2006, 2007 Pharrell Williams. Those earlier years, I think he was the flyest due on the scene.

When people look back on your name, your name, your presence, your work — what do you hope they say Julez Smith stood for?

Hopefully I inspire some people to start modelling. That inspiration to me is probably number one. Just inspire people to get fly and know that young men can do the same thing as the OGS in the game. They can come in, take over and put their foot in the game. I want to share my impact and my swag with other people. I think that’s the biggest thing for me and leaving a mark for future kids and making my family proud.

And if someone said, hey, give me a sentence that’s going to inspire me to go out and do what I want. What would you say?

I would probably say never let nobody take you off your groove.