It takes a village, and if there’s one family that lives that adage, it’s the Knowles crew. Model Julez Smith, the 20-year-old rising model and son of multi-hyphenate Solange, is opening up about the importance of family and the special relationship he holds with his grandmother, Ms. Tina Knowles.
Smith is our latest MOMENT by Teen Vogue cover star, and revealed in the interview that he considers his grandma — who is affectionately referred to as Ms. Tina by the BeyHive — his “best friend.” The grandmother and grandson duo are often compared, with fans pointing out Smith’s strong resemblance to the matriarch.
“That’s my twin! I grew up with my grandma. I’m a grandma baby,” Julez Smith told us. “I grew up of course with my mom and my pops and everybody, but my best friend I would say [is] probably my grandma. She taught me how to be a young man. She taught me the rules of the house. She taught me how to be a man of the house. She taught me how to respect others and everything, and she keeps me up on my fly, too.”
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Ms. Tina being the one to keep her grandchildren “up on their fly” honestly tracks — the style and beauty icon has had a long and storied career as a designer, and notably crafted the costumes for Destiny’s Child in the girl group‘s early days. It’s this kind of sartorial influence that Smith says naturally encouraged his foray into the fashion industry as a model.
“My family has just been fly my whole life,” Smith explained to us. “Since I was a baby, I just remember my mom stepping out in clothes I ain’t never seen and seeing my auntie dressing her tour costumes, and my grandma is really the pivotal point of our family when it comes to fashion. She started it off. So hearing the stories from my family about my grandma sewing stuff and just putting it all together, I would say it’s been like a 16- to 17-year journey of me falling in love with fashion.”