Joe Jonas comes of age

Photo caption: Joe Jonas with designer Simon Spurr.

The New York Times has a great profile piece on one of my favorite fellas:

When Joe Jonas is with his brothers Nick (the cute one) and Kevin (the married one), the JoBro are a juggernaut of tween fandom, with all the attendant high-decibel hysteria. But solo, Joe has an entirely different persona, or at least he’s aiming to. He is the sultry one: a man — O.K. a guy — with a sharper edge, an independent point of view, sophisticated tastes.

Once a mop-topped, purity-ring-wearing Disney star alongside his brothers, Joe is moving into sleeker territory, from his physique to his piqued interest in fashion, food and other epicurean pursuits. He sits on the front row at fashion shows in Milan and New York and was a judge on Top Chef. With a debut solo album, Fastlife, full of club-ready tracks, due out Oct. 11, and a sudden burst of 5 o’clock shadow, he is hoping to make the transition from a boy band to an adult artist. Let’s call it Timberlaking.

But Justin Timberlake is the rare performer to emerge from the Disney cocoon a fully formed, multiplatform talent. Blame changing tastes or Biebermania: the Jonai’s popularity has shrunk. A 3D concert film in 2009 was considered a box office disappointment, and their last Disney Channel series, Jonas L.A., faltered as it tried to cast them as more mature; it was canceled last year.

Joe Zee, the creative director of Elle, says: “If he wants to be the Beyoncé of Destiny’s Child, he’s got to really show that he can grow and mature, and really, to be honest, get an entirely new fan base. Maybe that means growing stubble, but it also means maturing in all levels, in his style and in his sound.”

Designers are already eager to help Mr. Jonas outfit his new look. Italo Zucchelli, the creative director for Calvin Klein men’s wear, dressed him on several occasions, taking him around Fashion Week in Milan. “There were, like, screaming girls following him everywhere, everywhere,” Mr. Zucchelli reported, still registering some shock. He was impressed with Mr. Jonas’s aesthetic: wearing sneakers with suits or a denim jacket with a blazer, asking about runway wear.

“He’s very interested in that, to be part of the fashion language,” Mr. Zucchelli said, calling him an ideal youthful model for his designs. “What I do is really inspired by iconic American-ness, and to me Joe is like an all-American boy.”

The rest of the revealing article can be read here.