Inside Lexee Smith’s camera roll

Taken from the spring ​’25 print issue of THE FACE. Get your copy here.

Starting 2025 with a road trip through Louisiana with Addison Rae wasn’t exactly what Lexee Smith had on her new year to-do list. But the last-minute working holiday gives an insight into the fast-paced, unpredictable lifestyle she’s become accustomed to as pop’s most in-demand dancer. As she puts it: ​“I just think that I’m so down for the go, go, go, go that when it gets chilled, it’s hard for me.” Lexee is taking it all in her stride, of course.

Zooming in from her Los Angeles apartment, the 24-year-old is wrapped in a black silk robe, which she’s juxtaposed with a Vivienne Westwood headband (think: Gen Z Brigitte Bardot in Vie privée vibes). The post-Christmas road trip, she tells me, in which the BFFs cruised through their shared Deep South heritage (Addison is from Louisiana, Lexee’s a Texan), followed a video shoot for Addison’s third single. Lexee mostly keeps schtum on all things regarding her mate’s impending pop domination, except to reveal the name of that single: High Fashion. Lexee has become a dancer-and-more-phenom, repeatedly working with Addison, going toe-to-toe and step-to-step with Lady Gaga in her Disease video and, shortly after we last caught up with her in an online profile last November, getting the Kardashian call.

Success has been brewing for her since she moved to LA with her mother and brothers aged 12. A dozen years later, Lexee can contort her body with sensuality, fluidity and movement – so it’s no wonder that the choreographer has piqued the interest of LA’s hottest hit-makers. Plus, her enigmatic online persona (TikTok has labelled her ​“unhinged” and ​“hot”) has social media foaming at the mouth, eager to demystify this limber It-girl. Then, in December, Kim K released her sexy, sleazy rendition of Santa Baby.

Lexee choreo’d the movement for the video, directed by Nadia Lee Cohen and Charlie Denis, which sees the Kardashian star crawl along the floor in a messy blonde wig. ​“Kim’s such a boss and her glamour is everything,” Lexee says, eyes alight and her hands waving animatedly as she talks about the experience. ​“We had such a beautiful, chill vibe. I was just like: ​‘That’s sis.’” Lexee makes an impact wherever she is: whether that’s dancing on stage with Ariana Grande and Billie Eilish, or acting as a creative consultant for Addison’s Aquamarine clip while in the tropics riding on a pick-up truck (as you do). This, then, is what Lexee Smith calls her ​“rock star life” – and these are the personal snaps that take us there.

“I’ve been creating dances for as long as I can remember. The first time was either in my bedroom or in one of the back rooms at the dance studio I grew up in in Texas, called Star Systems & Co Dance. I was four years old when I learned my first routines. First came a group dance, which was choreographed to Nancy Sinatra’s These Boots Are Made for Walkin’. Then, my first solo dance was to Mama, I’m A Big Girl Now from the Hairspray soundtrack.”

“When I moved to the inner city of Houston, I trained at Houston Met Dance. I had a teacher named Patty and I was obsessed with her. It was a very structured school and Patty was the one who let us be more explorative. After I moved to LA, I would go to [dance] classes at The Basement when I was 13. It felt so worn in and classic. When I was 15, I’d be in classes with little kids and the rest would all be adults. I idolised the big girls, and I’d always wanted to be sexy – maybe too sexy for a 15-year-old. I’ve always been inspired by sexuality. I remember thinking, ​“Oh my God, what does it feel like to dance like that?” I ended up finding a studio in the midst of all this fresh LA discovery called West Coast Dance Theatre – it felt like home. There were a variety of classical and commercial style classes and it was a place where my mom felt comfortable letting my brothers loose [inside the studio]. We got really close to the owner, Norine. She’s the best. I still go there all the time to rent studio space.”

“I have [a studio] that I go to because it’s close to my house called The Industry Loft. There’s a tiny little room in there where I can zone out. I love the owner, Dana [Story]. She has a daughter and I knew her when I was younger, dancing. I also love to go to The Hub LA. Addison and I had a phase where we loved to dance in one of the rooms called The Kitchen and we liked the darkness. And there’s something about Studio X, a studio inside West Coast Dance Theatre, which I grew up going to. I used to take ballet class from the owner when I was 12 or 13, so there’s a specific energy there that feels special. There are old pictures of me [on the walls from] when I was 13.”

“Addison and I are actually – not even kidding – violently addicted to shopping. Like, it’s bad. We’re both such enablers. But I think it’s fine: work hard, play hard, we deserve it. When we were road-tripping down south there were so many gems – we went vintage shopping until we died. We had lots of margaritas, lots of martinis. We danced a lot and went to a lot of honky tonks. We’re also big foodies. We went to Franklin Barbecue in Austin, which is Matthew McConaughey’s favourite barbecue spot. That was absolutely the best meat that I’ve ever had in my life.”

“If you’re working on a video set, normally you have a million takes, so that can be exhausting. You can use the environment and sink into the energy more – the world becomes thicker. Whereas with a live performance, you do rehearsals but then you have one moment to make it right. I love both. I want to experience more live stuff in a different capacity because the last stuff I was doing was just as a dancer among a bunch of dancers in a very commercial realm. I would love to be a part of something that is truly expressive to my spirit and see how that vulnerability makes me feel.”

“Addison had been wanting to do something in her hometown [of Lafayette]. We were workshopping the [same] idea for Aquamarine, but felt that it needed to be in Paris. It just made so much more sense. High Fashion has a very juxtaposing energy when it comes to being in your hometown, but it also adds so much context to what the song means. Us exploring southern, elemental energy was in opposition [to] the glamour aspect of the video. There’s just so much trust between Addison and I. She knows that if I’m gonna suggest something, I mean it. Sometimes there can be a lot of noise [but] it’s easy for us to lock in. If I have something to say, or she has something to say, there’s a certain sense of boundless comfort. Meeting each other felt like: ​“Whoa, I’ve never met another girl who wants it as bad as me.” We’re committed to the world together.”

“I did the Santa Baby thing with Kim and she is someone I’ve always admired. She’s such a boss and her glamour is everything. Sir Walter Scott wrote that glamour is ​“the magic power of imposing on the eyesight of spectators, so that the appearance of an object shall be totally different from the reality”. I saw this TikTok that was talking about glamour magic and how that is a real thing, and the Kardashians are the pioneers of that in our generation. It’s so true! Their glamour is their entire work and identity.”

“I get an intuitive hit of, ​“Oh, I wanna post this,” you know? I posted this [black and white] photo of myself at a party that my friend took on film. This guy sitting next to me had on my cowboy hat and I scratched his face out [of the photo] ​’cause I didn’t like him, not even platonically. I was kind of using him as a prop, but I thought it would stir up a little question, like: ​“Who’s the mystery man?” I posted it and then I was like: ​“Oh my God, I am a freak and my crushes probably think I’m crazy.” But some part of me wanted to share that and be silly. TikTok, though, I really don’t know how to navigate.”

“I love my tights and stockings, I’m always wearing them. Wolford has the best tights and basics. I just bought the best black shirt, it’s a mid-arm length, which is my favourite on my arm. I have a weird arm thing, so anything that makes me feel good with my arms, I’m like, ​“OK, you guys did really good.” I got the black silk robe I’m wearing from Fleur du Mal. A robe is an essential silhouette in my wardrobe. I love it for comfort, I love to wear a robe as soon as I get out of the bath or shower, and I also love to wear one out. Norma Kamali also comes to mind as she has some of the best silhouettes for the body ever since forever, and her newer stuff is so amazing. I also got the best vintage Levi’s. I’m more of a 506 than a 501 type of girl. They’re from a store called Scout in LA, and they have the best stuff.”

“If you put my library on shuffle, it would be so insane. When I was recently in New York, I went shopping at the Women’s History Museum store and they were playing this [Australian electronic] band called Single Gun Theory and I’ve been loving them recently. [They’re] so ethereal and crazy, so that has been fun. I love old country [music]. If I want to feel in the sky when I’m in the studio, I’ll listen to some ethereal Single Gun Theory-esque vibes. And if I want to feel grounded, I’ll listen to some old country.”

“I’d love to work with Matthew McConaughey. I love him. My fellow Texan! I just finished the first season of True Detective and it got my brain going. I want to be knee-deep in a role like that – it almost feels terrifying [to be that focused]. It feels like he just follows this sparkling light of instinct and alignment. That’s the goal.”