Meet Charles Smith II, the Dallas Designer Taking Fashion to the Dark Side

Smith quit basketball—he was an NBA D-league player—at 23 years old to pursue design full time. He started his luxury label SMITH II in 2012 and the streetwear line Do Not Touch in 2016, and started staging runway shows in 2013. McQueen’s visual language is often incorporated into the two lines, which embrace black as a primary color while employing text expressing sardonic views on death, identity, and personal space. Notably, his designs have been worn by the likes of Solange Knowles and Zoe Kravitz. Smith describes his aesthetic as “street chic that embodies strength, elegance, culture, music, craftsmanship. It’s about seeing something familiar and taking it right side up and flipping it upside down to see something new. This could be a small detail or experimental silhouette.” The result are high-end, conceptual looks that fuse demi couture with stark minimalism.

For Do Not Touch, Smith was inspired by Trayvon Martin and wanted to use fashion to enrich the sanctity of Black lives. “You go to any museum, the phrase “do not touch the art,” is there, holding the art to the highest level of delicacy,” he said. “That’s the same way we should treat human lives, especially Black lives. Because our lives are always being taken in these crazy ways.” The clothes liberally feature the slogan, which also applies to women. “Men are always grabbing, touching, and cat-calling you,” he said. “When you read that phrase, it makes you think twice about your approach to anything. So when you see “Do Not Touch” on a hoodie with the negative space, walking toward me, you will understand what I’m saying without me even saying it.”