Nick Jonas has no rules when it comes to fashion.
The singer has had a jam-packed year since marrying Priyanka Chopra in December 2018. He announced in February 2019, alongside brothers Joe and Kevin Jonas, the return of the Jonas Brothers with a new hit single “Sucker,” their first in six years.
Then the Jonas Brothers embarked on their Happiness Begins tour, which has more than 20 stops left before concluding in Paris in February 2020. Just this week, Jonas attended the premiere of his film Midway (wearing a teal Ermenegildo Zegna XXX suit), launched his latest fragrance with John Varvatos (called JVxNJ Silver Edition) and will debut the band’s first Christmas song since their Disney days (titled “Like It’s Christmas”) on Thursday night (Nov. 7).
Through it all, the musicians have created tunes while sporting various styles and costumes, from their denim and leather look at the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards to their vibrant jackets in the “Sucker” music video, which has more than 228 million views.
Nick Jonas says the “Sucker” music video was one of his personal favorite fashion moments of the year. “We got to really play with the clothes in that and it was fantastical,” Jonas tells The Hollywood Reporter. “There was really no rules. I think when you put yourself out there like that and take some of those bigger risks, you can find that you can add so many layers to a story. ‘Sucker,’ the video for that, was kind of a special moment for us in regards to the fashion side.”
During the tour, Jonas notes, their fashion sense is both a color story and one of nostalgia. “We again thought about the way we wanted to feel and the way we wanted the audience to feel, so I think color was really important,” he says. “Suiting has been a part of the campaign for this album and building that in as a major piece to the puzzle on the aesthetic side.”
However, during the later part of the show, he says the wardrobe helps with “tipping the hat to where we were” in their early days, with the help of stylist Avo Yermagyan. Jonas says, “That’s a really fun thing for us is understanding that there’s a nostalgic element to this new stage of our career, but also looking toward the future, constantly pointing toward where we’re headed, even in our clothing.”
Now that the Jonas Brothers are taking on a Christmas tune, perhaps fans will get to see some ugly sweaters on stage. Jonas says it’s “been a dream of ours for a long time” to record a Christmas song. Though they released the holiday number “Girl Of My Dreams” in 2007 with Disney, Jonas says “Like It’s Christmas” is special because it’s written and produced with the same artists as their current music. “That’s a great feeling to try to have one of those songs that can live on. Holiday songs, Christmas songs are that vehicle in a sense,” Jonas says. “We leaned into the classic sounds of Christmastime while giving a new beat and new feel. We’re excited for people to hear it.”
He later added of his philosophy on new projects: “I subscribe to evolve or die as an artist, to continue to push the envelope and do something different.”
Also launching Thursday is his third fragrance created in collaboration with Varvatos, a fresh scent called JVxNJ Silver Edition that’s meant to inspire the feeling of being unplugged and relaxed (something the Jonas Brothers may need after their tour). With mineral, citrus and woodsy notes, the fragrance is influenced by their hectic lifestyles. “The inspiration comes from our real lives,” Jonas says. “We are in the craziest year of our creative life. … We wanted this to feel like we bottled all that energy up and that electric feeling that we’re in right now.”
Varvatos explains that while making their first scent in 2018, they were “getting to know each other” — since then, the friends have also created a tequila label together and the designer has watched Jonas in concert. “The minute they come out, it’s very electric. It’s very exciting,” Varvatos says of the Happiness Begins tour. “It’s like going back in time where when you look at artists that you love, the show’s a big, important part and their production is amazing on the show, but their style also adds to the storytelling.
It’s not different than The Beatles — without what The Beatles looked like at the time [it] wouldn’t have been the same. … There’s so much electricity happening there, and I believe even the wardrobe adds to that.” That vibe was a feeling they wanted to capture in their new cologne, with Varvatos explaining, “The energy that was out there and the electricity that was there and we felt like if we could bottle that up, we had something special.”
Jonas adds: “It’s similar to your favorite song, giving you that confidence when you walk out the door in the morning or gets you ready for the day, whatever it is, that a fragrance could be there for you the same way.”
JVxNJ Silver Edition is now available online ($74 for 2.5 oz).
This article originally appeared on The Hollywood Reporter.
