'I want to do it different than the world's ready for': Willow Smith, 13, wows in Karl Lagerfeld shoot after shunning the limelight to 'decompress' and 'chill'

 

By Juliet Paylor
Most teenagers would be completely overwhelmed at the thought of shooting a fashion spread in Paris with famed designer Karl Lagerfeld for V Magazine.
But not Willow Smith.
The 13-year-old daughter of two-time Oscar-nominee Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith has already fit a lot into her tender years, with a successful music career and a fashion following thanks to her edgy ever-evolving personal style.

The World According To Willow: Willow Smith has opened up to V Magazine about her life plans at the ripe old age of 13, as well as taking part in an accompanying high-fashion photo shoot shot by Karl Lagerfeld

In fact, the star was on the cusp of launching a film career that would have seen her well and truly skyrocket into the stratosphere when she pulled the plug on fame altogether - for the time being anyway.
Backing out of the lead role in the big-screen remake of Annie last February, which is being produced by her father and Jay Z, the down-to-earth teenager made the decision that she wanted to experience the normal life of a seventh grader instead.
'I just wanted to chill, and be at home, and decompress, and just find out what I wanna do and where
I stand on this planet, with the little tiny place we have,' she tells the publication with the wisdom of someone much older.

Fashionista: The star's ever-evolving, cutting-edge style hasn't gone unnoticed by heavyweights including the Chanel head designer, who incorporated Willow's own clothing into his shoot in the streets of Paris

The age of innocence: The teenager pierces through the camera lens with her cat-like eyes, as she displays her penchant for ear piercings with these pricey Givenchy accessories

Returning to school after being tutored, the star admits it's a hard transition, but she's also 'enjoying just being independent and doing my own thing'.
Not that she's ever had any trouble with the latter.
From her myriad wild and wacky hairstyles to her cutting-edge fashion sense, Willow has never been one to follow the rules - something that hasn't gone unnoticed.
Chanel head honcho Lagerfeld even asked the songstress to bring some of her own clothes to the shoot so that he could mix them in with the styled looks - and he ended up using more of her pieces than even he would have expected.

Style for days: The songstress posed in her own clothes and Chanel accessories alongside her equally style savvy cousin Skylar Downs in several shots

'I can never tell what I'm gonna wear. I kind of just put on whatever feels right,' she admits. 'Sometimes that's Converse and a T-shirt, sometimes it's Givenchy heels and leather pants.'
She certainly looks the part of a high-fashion model in the series of stunning images captured by Lagerfeld during the night shoot, which was styled by Carlyne Cerf de Dudzeele and features high-end labels including Givenchy and, of course, Chanel.
The model pierces through the camera lens with her cat-like eyes, conveying confidence and attitude aplenty, as she stands atop a car and strolls down the empty Parisian streets.
Talking to the magazine about what it was like working with someone of Karl's stature, Willow admits she was pleasantly surprised at just how unintimidating he was in person.

'I just wanted to chill, and be at home, and decompress': The daughter of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith revealed her decision to bow out of the big-screen Annie remake wasn't taken lightly

'[He's] very, very friendly and open. I thought he was gonna be really mysterious, like peering over his glasses, evaluating. But he was just awesome. I don’t have words, because he’s such a huge icon.'
Having found international success with her catchy 2010 hit single Whip My Hair, which was released just days shy of her 10th birthday, it's little wonder Willow's so musically-inclined.
She comes from a family of artists, with dad Will having had much success during the '80s and '90s, mom Jada having recently reformed her band Wicked Wisdom, brother Jaden currently recording new music of his own and half-brother Trey working the turntables under the moniker DJ AcE.
So who inspires Willow musically?

Effortlessly stylish: Willow admits she's like any other teenager when it comes to picking outfits, saying, 'I kind of just put on whatever feels right. Sometimes that's Converse and a T-shirt, sometimes it's Givenchy heels and leather pants'

Joan Jett and Cherie Currie's 1970s band The Runaways, says the teen: '[Their music] just makes me feel so powerful, as a woman, just like, yes! I know who I am! Roarrr! Know what I mean?'
With the world her oyster, this is one youngster who's surprisingly in no rush to grow up.
Or perhaps she's just waiting for the world to catch up to her.
'I just feel like I want to do it different than the world's ready for,' she says of her ambition for the future. 'It's like a pearl: you put a piece of sand in it, which is the imagination, you close it over a bunch of years, making it awesome, and then bam! It comes open. And I'm it! I'm the pearl.' 

'I just feel like I want to do it different than the world's ready for': With so many achievements and so much experience already under her belt, this is one 13-year-old who is in no hurry to grow up despite her ambition for the future