Putting sexy back in jeans Queens
For uber fashion designer LaQuan Smith, it’s in the jeans.
The Queens-born couturier, who dresses A-list stars Beyoncé, Rihanna, Serena Williams and Kim Kardashian, has been tapped to breathe new life into denim brand Jordache, which enjoyed popularity in the 1970s and early 1980s.
“It’s the LaQuan Smith take on denim … Jordache is looking to be young again, and fresh again, and sexy again. And I think that I’m that perfect person to be able to do this with,” the 31-year-old told the Daily News. The collection will hit stores in 2020.
He stormed the fashion industry and made a splash during his New York Fashion Week debut at 21 after being rejected from the Parsons School of Design and the Fashion Institute of Technology.
Lady Gaga wore Smith’s 3-D leggings in 2010, and when Rihanna slipped into his super-revealing chainmail bodysuit for her “Rude Boy” music video, he was catapulted into superstardom. The designer of the moment has dressed Beyoncé (think tight, short, racy) for her global tours, and Kardashian for her red carpet appearances (again, tight, short, racy).
Designing plaid bustiers, form-fitting skirts with thighhigh slits, mini dresses, thighhigh boots and hyper textured leggings has garnered the selftaught designer a devoted following.
Beyoncé boosted Smith’s profile when the “Bootylicious” diva wore his designs during her “On The Run II” tour with Jay-Z in 2018.
“I mean, it was incredible. Beyoncé is one of my many, many, many inspirations,” he told The News. “That to me really shut everything down, and I was in great company. There was Riccardo Tisci, there was Versace, and there were all these other brands, but she wore me. That means it’s powerful within itself. I think it speaks volumes in terms of obviously what she represents, and just who I am as a designer.”
Designing brazenly sexy outfits has become a trademark for the costumier, whose latest venture with
Jordache Jeans will be, in his own words: “Think denim but in the sexiest, unapologetic way.”
The new denim collection from the 40-year-old apparel company known for its skintight jeans will include bustiers, crop tops, skirts and jackets.
“It’s like taking the old and adding the new,” he added. “I’m still sticking within the guidelines of who they are as a brand, but I’m adding my little spices and flavors to it.”
The designer jeans company is best known for its television commercial featuring an apparently topless woman in a pair of tight Jordache jeans riding a horse in the 1970s. Considered risque at that time, the ad was banned from TV, creating a stir and causing a spike in the brand’s popularity. A promotional gimmick that did not work out as well was the Jordache blimp, which crashed on Oct. 8, 1980, in New Jersey.
Moet & Chandon recently named Smith one of its Nectar of the Culture ambassadors for a campaign created with famed hip-hop photographer Jonathan Mannion celebrating trailblazers in music, art and more, in tandem with the release of its new Moet Nectar Imperial Rose wine.
“Me being a young entrepreneur, born and raised from Jamaica, Queens, and growing up in New York, and just… I don’t know, running a business, and being an entrepreneur, and being a designer, and being a black designer, at that, it means a lot to be a part of something that is so significant and historical,” he said.