Jason Bolden (born February 27, 1982) is an American entrepreneur, creative director and fashion stylist. Bolden is a co-founder of JSN Studio, along with his husband, interior designer Adair Curtis. [1] [2] [3]
At age 18, Bolden moved from St. Louis to Chicago to study pre-med at Northwestern University with the goal of becoming an OBGYN. Bolden transferred to Art Institute of Chicago and got a job at a Cynthia Rowley retail store, which solidified his love of clothes. He went on to work for Nicole Miller, Louis Vuitton, Chloé, Gucci, and Oscar de la Renta, where he built his wealthy client base. [4] [5] [6]
After graduating, Bolden moved to New York City and co-founded vintage clothing store, The Garment Room, in SoHo. Calvin Klein, Akris and Ralph Lauren visited Bolden's store to gain inspiration for their new collections. [6] [5] [7]
In 2011, Gabrielle Union encouraged Bolden to style her for an Art Basel event. In the early 2010s, Taraji P. Henson informed Bolden she was about to become really popular and thus, Bolden would become in demand as her stylist. This gave Bolden the confidence to launch his full time styling career. [8] [9] [10]
In 2013, Bolden designed a shoe collection in collaboration with Brazilian brand Schutz. [11] [12]
In 2015, Bolden was hired by Rihanna's beauty and stylist agency, Fr8me. [13] In 2016, Bolden released a line of sunglasses under the JSN Studio brand name. [14] [15] [16]
In 2021, Bolden and designer Zac Posen headlined a virtual training program aimed at engaging and empowering diverse youth looking to enter the fashion business. The program was sponsored by New York Fashion Week. [17]
For the 95th annual Academy Awards, Bolden styled Michael B. Jordan, Vanessa Hudgens, and Jay Ellis for the official ceremony, and Jordan, Hudgens, Yara Shahidi, Dwyane Wade, Sabrina Carpenter, DeWanda Wise, and Trevor Noah for the after parties. Bolden began planning the outfits for the events in February 2023. The ceremony and parties took place on March 12, 2023. Bolden's signature of casual luxury was highlighted in all clients' outfits. [18] [19]
Bolden typically does only one or two fittings with clients, within a week's time of an event. He is known for selecting jewelry for looks on the same day an event takes place. [18]
In January 2025, Bolden styled Taylor Zakhar Perez for the Lacoste underwear ad campaign. [20] [21]
In 2020, Bolden called out French luxury brands Celine and Yves Saint Laurent for performative solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, after Bolden and other Black stylists, celebrities, and models faced discrimination from the brands. [22] [23] Bolden is a board member of the Black Fashion and Beauty Council, created to support Black creatives navigating the industry. [24] [25]
In 2021, Booth Moore wrote an article in Women's Wear Daily , criticizing the lack of garments showcased by Black designers at the Golden Globe Awards. [26] Bolden and celebrity stylist Law Roach responded by explaining there's gatekeeping that Black stylists have to overcome in order to have access to certain brands and garments. [27] Roach and Bolden questioned Moore’s logic of expecting Black stylists to correct industry wrongs that were purposely created to oppress Black artists and businesspeople. They stated the responsibility should be on wealthy white and non-Black artists and businesspeople to change the dynamics of the industry. [28]
In 2012, Bolden's wedding was one of the first Black gay weddings to be broadcast on network television during an episode of VH1's La La's Full Court Life. [29] [30] Bolden is a reoccurring judge on Netflix's Next in Fashion . [31] [32] [33]
In August 2019, Netflix released Styling Hollywood, [34] a show about Bolden's relationship and business with husband and interior designer, Adair Curtis. [30] [35] The show broke barriers, being one of the first television shows to highlight a Black gay married couple. [36] [37] [38] The series spotlighted both successful Black men in the traditionally white-dominated fields of luxury fashion and interior design. [39] [40] In 2022, Bolden and Curtis were honored by Family Equality with the Visibility Award at LA Impact: A Night of Heroes. [41]
Bolden's family has always supported his gay identity. Bolden has been outspoken about his positive experience growing up in order to challenge the stereotype of homophobia in Black families. [42] [43] [44]
In 2012, Bolden married interior designer, Adair Curtis. [45] [46]
In 2021, their son, Arrow Fox, was born. [47] [48] [49]
Bolden is an art collector. In 2021, he made a video about his personal collection for Sotheby's. The collection initially included Hermès bags and art pieces by Joan Mitchell, Keith Haring, and Picasso. [50] Bolden cites internalized anti-Blackness for the initial whiteness of his collection. Aryn Drake-Lee opened Bolden up to the significance of Black art and artists, which inspired Bolden to collect only artists of color going forward. Bolden's collection now includes pieces from Kehinde Wiley and Kwame Brathwaite. Bolden is a sneakerhead. [51]
Bolden is Zaya Wade's godfather. [52] When she came out as transgender at age 8, Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union-Wade called friends, Bolden and Curtis, to ask for advice on how to support their daughter. [53]
Gabrielle Monique Union-Wade is an American actress. Her career began in the 1990s, when she made dozens of appearances on television sitcoms, prior to landing supporting roles in 1999 teen films She's All That and 10 Things I Hate About You. She rose to greater prominence the following year, after she landed her breakthrough role in the teen film Bring It On.
Kadeem Hardison is an American actor. The son of fashion model Bethann Hardison, he rose to prominence after landing the role of Dwayne Wayne on the television series A Different World, a spin-off of the NBC sitcom The Cosby Show. He is also known for playing Craig Cooper, the title character's father, in the Disney Channel series K.C. Undercover. Hardison has also appeared in the first season of the Showtime comedy Black Monday and starred as Bowser in the Netflix series Teenage Bounty Hunters.
Marcellas Reynolds is an American actor, author, documentarian, and television host. His notable television appearances include GMA3, Access Hollywood, E! Live from the Red Carpet, The Bold and the Beautiful, Supreme Models, and Yes, Dear. Reynolds began his television career in 2002 on CBS's hit television series Big Brother season three, becoming the first openly gay black man cast on a major network reality series. His writing has appeared in Chicago magazine, Essence, The Guardian, and L.A. Style Magazine. Reynolds is the author of Supreme Models: Iconic Black Women Who Revolutionized Fashion and Supreme Actresses: Iconic Black Women Who Revolutionized Hollywood, Supreme Sirens: Iconic Black Women Who Revolutionized Music, and the executive producer of Supreme Models, the documentary.
Brad Michael Batory, known professionally as Indashio, is a fashion designer, TV personality, entrepreneur, humanitarian, and stylist.
Red carpet fashion consists of outfits worn on the red carpet at high-profile gala celebrity events such as award ceremonies and film premieres. The clothes worn to award events such as the Oscars and the Golden Globes consistently receive intense worldwide media scrutiny, making their red carpets an international product placement area of great importance to fashion designers. Despite the publicity given to award ceremonies, other red-carpet events such as the Vogue-hosted Met Gala also have a significant impact on the fashion world.
Styled to Rock is an American reality competition television series based on the British television series of the same name, executive produced by recording artist Rihanna which focuses on fashion design. The contestants would compete with each other to create the best outfit for one or more famous music acts every week, restricted by time and materials. Their designs were judged and the music act of the week would choose their favourite one, and one designer was eliminated each week.
Red carpet fashion in 2008 was affected by the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, which led to the cancellation of the Golden Globes that year. The Oscars were dominated by uncontroversial designs in solid colours which led to criticism of "safe" choices, and drew attention to those who dressed more individually, such as Tilda Swinton and Marion Cotillard.
Ashton Michael is an American fashion designer and celebrity wardrobe stylist based in Los Angeles.
Natalia Fedner is an American fashion designer, inventor and actress, best known for inventing a six-way stretch metal textile.
Cristina Ehrlich is an American fashion stylist. She has been listed as one of the 25 most powerful stylists by the Hollywood Reporter six times. Ehrlich was named "Celebrity Stylist of the Year" in 2012 at New York Fashion Week's Style Awards, received a Marie Claire Image Maker Award in 2017 and the DIFF Impact In Fashion Award in 2019.
Mary Alice Haney is an Indian fashion designer.
Styling Hollywood is a 2019 documentarian non-scripted fashion reality television series on Netflix created by Carlos King and starring celebrity stylist Jason Bolden and his husband, interior designer Adair Curtis through their JSN Studio.
Next in Fashion (NIF) is a reality show and fashion design competition series hosted by fashion designer Tan France and model Gigi Hadid. It follows designers from around the world as they compete for the chance to win $200,000 and debut a collection on luxury fashion retailer site Net-a-Porter.
Lawrence Roach is an American fashion stylist, best-known for his work with artists such as Zendaya, Céline Dion, and Anya Taylor-Joy. Roach served as a primary judge on the Max competition series Legendary (2020–2022). He announced his retirement from styling in 2023, dedicating himself to his creative relationship with Zendaya.
Zerina Akers is an American fashion stylist and costume designer. She is best known for her positions as Beyoncé's personal stylist, costume designer for the Emmy-winning 2020 musical film Black Is King, and founder of the e-commerce site "Black Owned Everything".
Lupita Nyong'o wore a blue dress on March 2, 2014 to the 86th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre, at which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for 12 Years a Slave (2013). In collaboration with Nyong'o, the gown was designed by Prada and styled by Micaela Erlanger. After the ceremony, the dress garnered critical praise from fashion blogs and publications, being cited on several 'best dressed' lists and considered one of the most significant gowns in Hollywood history.
June Ambrose is an Antiguan-born American stylist, costume designer, author, creative director, influencer, and TV host. She is currently the creative director of women's basketball for Puma. Ambrose is best known for styling prominent hip hop and rhythm and blues artists in high fashion pieces and was one of the first designers to do so, most notably for artists such as Missy Elliott and Jay-Z in popular 1990s music videos. Ambrose was born in Antigua in 1971 and grew up in The Bronx. She attended Talent Unlimited High School and after graduation worked for a brief period in investment banking before interning at MCA Records where she began styling new artists. Ambrose has designed for over 200 music videos and was the costume designer for the 1998 film Belly and a stylist on The X Factor. She published her book, Effortless Style, in 2006 and in 2012 hosted her own reality television show on VH1. Ambrose was hired at Puma in 2020 and in December 2021 released her first fashion line, High Court, which is also the first-ever women's basketball clothing line released by the company.
American actor Billy Porter wore a tuxedo dress in black velvet designed by Christian Siriano on the red carpet of the 91st Academy Awards on February 24, 2019. At the time, Porter had recently come into public view for his breakout role in the FX television series Pose and had been receiving attention for his boundary-pushing red carpet attire during the 2018–19 film awards season. Following his appearance at the 76th Golden Globe Awards in a custom silver suit with fuchsia-lined cape, he was invited to host red carpet interviews at the upcoming Oscars pre-show. Porter approached Siriano and together they conceived the tuxedo gown.
Gabrielle Union: My Journey to 50 is an American two-part docuseries that premiered on BET+ on June 15, 2023.
James Ford is a Los Angeles-based fashion designer known for his playful, energetic, genre-mixing style. He was a competitor on Netflix's Next in Fashion in 2023, hosted by Gigi Hadid and Tan France.