Spring 2012 Preview

Here’s a look at some items from our Spring 2012 collection debuting at the Project Show in Vegas.  Inspired by a reflection upon a journey to Bali a few years back, this collection conjures materials that make me reminiscent of that trip.  Hit us up at booth 2147 if you’re there!

Bang*Jump

Haha.  A few months back, NYC’s darling DJ/MC Jane Bang rocked the hell out of our kicks in the video for her single “Crunk It”, which by the way is a pretty sick ass track.

So when I got back from China and she wanted to meet up I was all about it!  First of all I hadn’t had a sandwich in like 3 months so when we went to…oh wait I had Katz last week…but anyway we went to Hampton Chutney to discuss and it sounds like we have a new collabo on our hands.

Check her out in the Ron English Camo Jumps – totally Tank Girl!

Ron English’s Jump Popaganda Velveton

The wait is over and the Limited Edition Velveton is now available at Jump SoHo and soon to be hitting Saks Fifth Ave and Bloomingdale’s stores!!!  Designed by Ron English, it is an ode to his subversive pieces highlighting the skeletal features of iconic characters like Charlie Brown and Ronald McDonald.

Get them now!!

Jump Tokyo Chapter 2: Tokyo

Certainly in 1975, when Jump came into being, the products were all athletic shoes and so the moniker Jump was quite suitable.  Though since its inception in Taiwan, with each new country the brand gained entrance to, so the brand would make evolutionary “jumps”.  30 years later, when Jump SoHo was launched in New York, the brand once again took an evolutionary “jump” forward to coalesce its history as an athletic brand with a new edge converging sophisticated street with daring luxury.  So when I landed in Tokyo, and learned more of the intentions of the Jump Japan team, I knew very quickly that this new venture would also take the brand on another evolutionary JUMP. To put it simply, I’m a complete and utter Japan-phile.  Any chance I get to visit, I’ll take it.  And with hosts like mine, it’s all the more reason to go!  This trip was, as always, awesome, leaving me not wanting to leave.  We covered a lot in a few days and so it happened that Jump Tokyo began to take shape and solidify.  But first things first, I had to get my eat on with some izakaya.  OISHIIIIIIII.

And of course there was a bit of singing at the end of the night.  The next day on the way to meet everyone, I just happened to notice this out of the corner of my eye from the taxi.  Hahaha.  Had to snatch it up – absolutely no idea what it’s about or why other than the fact that we’ve already got some sort of fan base.

On we went to check out the location in Shibuya.  It’s situated quite nicely between the Ron Herman store and the trendy Harajuku shopping district.  Sleek spot and in a good location so celebrities can come chill without being harassed.  Afterward we met with the design team and proceeded to brainstorm.   These guys were good.

We decided to go visit some of Tokyo’s dope stores, beginning with F.I.L. and ending at another shop called The Contemporary Fix.  AMAZING store, AMAZING merchandise, AMAZING design.  Go check it out.

The rest of the design team.

And we were quite fortunate to have coincidentally ran into Yano San whom we were scheduled to meet with anyway.  He was actually the one who had introduced Murakami to LV.  He’s got some big plans for us as well as we work together.  I can’t wait.  And peep his fuckin ride!!  All black Land Rover Defender.  SICK……….

Well shopping in Japan is just insane so we topped off the night by hitting up Lebaron  with my homies Tatsu and Adam from Ravijour who are about to drop their exclusive collabo with Taboo Deltah.  It was a helluva night.  And I actually had someone to talk to because Christine here was born in Chongqing and spoke Chinese.  Though I must say my drunk Japanese is getting quite good.

And after a couple bottles of champagne, things got a little minging…hahaha.

Even got a look on mai sassy girl’s blog who writes up on all the parties in Tokyo.

Next day was all business.  We went out to an area called Yoga where we would go to Akakura’s head office and where I’d meet Yamamato San, Shacho of Akakura.  Very official like.  Even had my own name card.  Haha.  The meeting went amazingly.  We confirmed we shared the same vision for our venture and at the end of the meeting,  Yamamoto San assured me that this was something he was very dedicated to and that he would pursue it to the very end.  It was quite moving and I gave him my very best domo arigato gozaimashita with full bow.

The next day, Nobu got back from Europe and we obviously had a lot to brief him on.  We’d covered a lot in 5 days and so we decided a bit of indulgence would be OK.  And when you put Nobu and I together, well…we set new records every time.  Following dinner at at Ken’s Good Morning Cafe, we hit up Roppongi.

As you can see, we had our beer goggles on.  Hahahaha.  Until 7 AM………………….

Yea.  But Yuhmi, the owner of the bar was kind enough to invite us to a standing bar for another drink.  So we went.

Apparently this is the type of spot where all bar owners go when they get off work at 7 AM.  Great yakitori, good company and good drinks.  Like a Cheers, except there’s nowhere to sit and you go at 7 AM.  HA.

We ended up leaving at 10 AM so it certainly wasn’t one drink.  But that was because we spent 3 hours psychoanalyzing every customer that walked into the joint using the classic Jump animal psychology test.  Cho omoshiroi!!

The next day we was off to China.  6 PM flight THANK BUDDHA.  But that’s the next chapter of this story!  Stay tuned!!!!

Jump Tokyo Chapter 1: New York

I remember listening to the British philosopher, Alan Watts, describe a method or upaya employed by Buddhist teachers in which while the student is in a state of deep meditation and concentration, trying to find, “what it is”, the teacher, would all of a sudden exclaim, “HAP!” and effectively completely shatter that moment of concentration.  Why would he do this?  Well the intent is to break that moment to actually bring the student to exactly “what it is” by breaking the separation of the contemplation from the self and allowing the student to actually find that “what it is” is in fact, him!

A few weeks ago, I received an email from Nobu, whom, for the better part of the last two years, has been diligently and successfully focusing his efforts on making Jump a brand of import in Japan.  As is typical with Nobu, his email was short and vague.  Hahaha.  The subject was “new project” and it read simply:

Hey Victor,

How are you?

I just want to tell you…..

My partner’s ”Leonard Mochizuki” will send you e-mail regarding a new project.

Talk you soon,

Best

nobu

Shortly thereafter, I did indeed receive an email from a “Leonard Mochizuki” outlining a new venture in Japan.  Nobu, Leonard, Ken (whom had already been instrumental in much of our activities in Japan prior) and Mukae San representing a well established Japanese footwear company called Akakura had the intent of opening a Jump flagship in Tokyo and expanding our distribution base throughout the whole of Japan.  Reading this, I was not only stunned but deeply excited.  Nobu’s email did little to prime me for this you can imagine what Leo’s email did.  Within a week, this group, which they incorporated as Five, Inc., representing five members of the group as well as the five elements had made plans to come to New York to see our SoHo store, to develop a further understanding for Jump and for us to meet and to discuss the opportunity.  The week following, I found myself face to face with them on Spring St. and Broadway.

The karma was, as John Lennon put it, instant but ours was a very positive one.  I quickly found that not only did this group share the very same vision for Jump but they were quite simply the most interesting, eclectic and fun lot of individuals that could’ve possibly taken on this endeavor.  This became glaringly evident over espresso martinis and beers at our first meeting at Merc Bar up the street from the store.  Here’s Ken, Leo, me and Mukae san.

Apparently they already had secured a two story prime location in Shibuya at an intersection between the Ron Herman store and the trendy Harajuku and already had a strategy to quickly bring Jump to all parts of Japan thru Akakura.  Of course, prior to our meeting, while excited, there certainly was a degree of trepidation.  This completely dissipated after our initial discussions and I knew these were the guys I wanted to be handling Jump in Japan.

The next day, Nobu arrived and we were all to meet for lunch.  For whatever reason, perhaps from Dallas, it’d become customary that we always eat Korean food whenever Nobu and I met but that day he suggested we eat something very American, so I took them to 2nd Ave. Deli for some pastrami.  For whatever reason, they told Mukae san to wear a suit while the rest of them wore casual which was actually quite funny.

Oh pastrami.

I soon learned just how hilarious Mukae san was as he tried to engage the pickled tomato in his business attire.  Look at Ken all poised for a tomato explosion.  Hahahaha!

Following that we had further discussions regarding strategy and their intentions for the store and our expansion into Japan.  Soon after it started raining and I suggested we take the meeting to my apartment in Brooklyn.

Where’s Ken?  Hahaha.  Look closely and you’ll see.  Heavily jet lagged, we all thought he was sleeping but every so often when some point would come up in conversation, you’d hear Ken chime in.  Haha.  As we were finishing our discussion, the rain cleared and from the window you could see a rainbow.  I suggested we go to the 38th floor roof to check it out and sure enough…

There it was.  A DOUBLE RAINBOW!!  It was the first time these gentleman had seen such a thing and they took at as the first of many omens of what would be a successful venture together.

That night I took them to eat what had become an obsession of mine, Artichoke’s Pizza by the Highline which is essentially like a soup on pizza.  Hahaha.

After dinner we did a bit of partying in the Meatpacking, beginning at Hogs and Heffers where they got to see American women dancing atop a bar trying to show off their goods.  Oh yea, the women were in their 50s.  Haaaaaaaaaa!  I then took them to Avenue where we met up with my friends Deborah and Charmaine and did a bit of Nonde nonde nonde Nonde nonde nonde Nonde nonde nonde…NONDE!  See example here:

Hahaha.

On their last day, Joy and I thought it was important for them to see how Jump is positioned at Bloomingdale’s and Saks as well as to see all the different shops in New York to further inspire and inform the design for the Tokyo store.  It was a long day of much walking, much research and by the end, Ken, president of the Japan Surfing Association, suffering severely from jet lag was asking, OK already, when can we go to Saturday’s Surf!?  Hahaha.  So to Saturday Surf we went.  For our final dinner together we went to Ma Dang Sui in K-Town for some Korean barbecue which they thoroughly enjoyed.  The next morning they flew out to what I thought would be back to Japan but what I’d later find out would be to LA and Hawaii for surfing!  Ha!

So you’re probably asking why the hell I wrote that whole bit about the Buddhist teacher and the “HAP!”  Well this was my “HAP!”  The Jump endeavor since it first launched in New York 5 years ago has been a deep meditation into the brand.  And through this journey, I’d uncovered a myriad of facets of what a brand could be, how it lives in a world through good economies and bad economies, developing product and ultimately leading to what had become a very introvertially (word?) reflective moment for myself as a propagator (propagandist) of a brand.  Though at a certain point, it had become almost rote and procedural, perhaps even cyclical as though I had fallen prey to the sansara, as it were.  Who knew that what began as an email from Nobu entitled “new project” would become so apropos as to break me out of that moment of concentration to reinvigorate the very essence of the Jump brand.

As I sit here in my hotel, on what is now the fourth day of my visit to Japan, this “new project” has become a turning point for the brand and for myself and as I share the brand’s 30 years of history with all the amazing individuals dedicating so much effort to the unflagging and uncompromising  pursuit of excellence for Jump Tokyo, I’m understanding, exactly “what it is” and that “what it is” is exactly the meaning of Jump.  And for this, I am infinitely grateful.  Oh yea and Tokyo is fucking awesome, but I’ll get to that in the next post.

Newness

Isn’t this just a thing of beauty?  Come to Jump SoHo and see the new goods.

POPEYE and SAFARI!!!!!

I take a ton of inspiration from Japanese mags.  They’re always jam packed with stuff – better than even looking at stuff online to me.  So at least a few times a year before making that design/development trip, I’ll pick up Popeye, Safari, Men’s Non-No, Huge, the list goes on, at those premium American prices because I find the information intensely useful.  So of course it’s awesome when these mags cover our work!!

They’re also airing the episode of SMAP x SMAP tonight where everyone is either in Jumps or Taboo Deltahs.  Make sure to check it out!!!

Jump sends its prayers to Japan

Jump hopes all our friends in Japan remain safe as they endure the aftershocks.  Please be safe everyone!!

Shanghai

It took some easing into.  I mean Japan was so insanely dope that there was a lot to live up to.  China has become perhaps one of Jump’s biggest priorities.  It is such an amazing market and has tremendous potential  I set out to find a distribution partner for Jump but ended up with something a bit different which I think might actually be a smarter play.  More on that to come.

I was thinking Shanghai would be pretty quiet since I didn’t know many people there and I was sort of hoping it would remain that way since I’d essentially been partying, I mean traveling, I mean working for the better part of a month.  But as it turns out, all it takes is one email to my homie Mike Cheng and I’ve entered a world of debauchery.  He introduced me to Inusa (BBG) and Kelvin, owners of Horizen and Sam, the resident DJ.  Horizen is an ultra sexy spot with probably the best view of Shanghai on the top floor of the boutique hotel, Les Suites Orient.

I ended up going there for the next four nights.  And mornings.  When you become boys with the owners of a place like this, it can be dangerous.  Haha.  But it’s all in the name of business!  We have something in the works, again more to come on that later!  But all I have to say is Shanghai better prepare itself come Fall.

Here are some requisite pictures of weird things I ate.

I thought this was funny.  They look a bit dark to be Jewish though.

Just landed in Seoul.  I feel like I’m playing that game RISK.  World domination!! Just ate blowfish shabu shabu in what felt like a grandma’s kitchen.  Like they kept trying to put more food into my pot.  This land is going to make me fat.

Taboo Deltah x Ravijour at Alux

The last time Tab and I came to Japan, we met Yasuyuki and Adam, the heads of the tremendously popular lingerie brand Ravijour.  They were really cool guys and they ended up blowing out of the Taboo x Jump womens in their stores and on their website.  When Nobu told them about Taboo Deltah and our return trip to Japan, they were all over it!!  We had a mtg and decided we’d do an exclusive style for Taboo Deltah x Ravijour for Fall 11.   Ladies keep an eye out for it because it’s going to be dope/sexy/sick.

It just so happened that Ravijour was throwing a party for their 7th Anniversary a day after our launch event at Loveless and we were certainly excited to say the least.  Hahaha.  But before we hit the sexy time party, we thought we’d balance out our lives a bit with some culture and family time activities.  Because you can’t just party and bullshit every damn day right?

We started the day off with Teppanyaki lunch which was awesome.  Check out how meticulously this chef does the shrimp

Then we hit up the Tokyo National Museum.  Check out this Dogu sculpture.  They say it’s an alien.

Some bronze Taboo Deltah artifacts.

Then we hit up Disney Sea.

Hahaha.

And then we was off to the party.  But not before seeing Masi Oka from Heroes!!

Alright, enough suspsense. It’s sexy time.

Hot CYBERJAPAN dancers dancing with the Deltahs.

As long as there’s a shoe in the picture, it means it’s business time.  Hahaha.

Here we go.  Victor Hsu – Chief Propagandist of Jump, Taboo – Taboo Deltah Magnate, Yasuyuki – CEO of Ravijour, Yonehara Yasumasa – famous Japanese photographer and one hilarious mofo, Nobu – CEO Cactus Blues, Adam Sawai – GM of Ravijour.  All really awesome people.

Motto Japanese models.  Friends of Yone san.

This is a singer named Jackie Yone introduced to me.  He says she’s called AAA.  I told Yone he should be called XXX.  Hahaha.

With the Ravijour designers.

So at about 6:30 AM we left the party.  And as if that wasn’t dope enough, we went to Shibuya for sushi.

I really wanted to throw some karaoke into the mix but none were open yet.  Hahaha.  After the next party!!  Ladies prepare yourselves for the launch of Taboo Deltah x Ravijour for Fall 11!!

It was just such an amazing trip.  Every time I go to Japan I become more and more enthralled with the culture, the people, the style, the food, the list can go on forever.  Being a consummate New Yorker I always hate on other cities but whenever I’m in Tokyo, I just have an overwhelming resounding feeling that I’m in, quite simply, the pinnacle of cultural refinement and lifestyle.  I always leave wanting more. And feeling like a barbarian that I don’t have a Washlet in my crib yet.  Paper?  Really?

Taboo takes Tokyo by Storm.

It was just over a year ago when Taboo and I came to Japan and it was sick then and this time it was reSICKulous. I guess it went down when Tab invited Nobu and I to SMAP x SMAP studios at Fuji TV.  They were taping an episode to air end of March.  We gifted each of the members with TABOOXJUMPs and they absolutely loved their new kicks and rocked them in their performance of BEP songs straightaway.

The next day was the day of our event at Loveless to launch Taboo Deltah.  Loveless is one of Tokyo’s most breathtaking stores.  It’s three floors with a lofted lower level that allows for a spectacular shopping experience.  Last year, Taboo introduced me to the store as his favorite and it quickly became mine.  They carry one of a kind pieces and exclusive items.  So when Loveless agreed to launch Taboo Deltah, we were nothing short of thrilled.  We knew this was going to be sexy.  It began with a battery of press interviews.

Taboo Deltah Magnate and Victor Hsu, Chief Propagandist.

Yonehara Yasamusa, sickest photographer in Japan and Taboo.

Then a speech by Taboo aboard this hydraulic table that lifted him up to the chandelier.  Very epic.

Red Denizens are the best seller!!  Almost sold out.  Get into Loveless and cop the last few before they’re gone!!

Within an hour, 32 anxious fans purchased Deltahs in anticipation of the opportunity to meet Taboo and get an autograph.  It was a record day in sales of Taboo Deltahs!!  Sold like Deltahcakes!!  Busted out another 10 more pair the next day!

The shoes were beautifully and artfully merchandised as the centerpiece of the entire store.  LOOK HOW SICK THIS PLACE IS!!!!!!

TABOOXJUMPs still fresh as hell.

 

Yu Minato and I with the Loveless buying team.

It was a phenomenal experience.  Japan is truly a magical place.  Thank you Tokyo!!

Ron English’s Jump Popaganda Event Recap

Friday marked the launch of Ron English’s JUMP Popaganda at Greenhouse.  The event gave our VIP guests the chance to see the shoes for the first time as well as meet the artist himself.  We had an unexpectedly amazing turnout which became a huge line at the door, so apologies if you had difficulties getting in!

Here are the shoes.

Joy Chen, Ron English and Victor Hsu.

View from the VIP.

Victor Hsu, Ran Enda, Nobu Hirota and Mani.

Han Lam, Charmaine Reroma, Victor Hsu and Anny Lee.

Leonardo calling Ron English.

Victor Hsu and Ron English.

Ron English.

Victor Hsu, Ron English and Nobu Hirota, Jump Japan.

And here’s a peek at the new color.

Ron English’s Jump Popaganda

Ron and I were fortunate enough to have met at Jump SoHo through Dusty Wright who’s quite an interesting individual in his own right.  As the Chief Propagandist for Jump, I thought there would be an interesting propaganda collaboration with Ron English’s Popaganda.

We discussed the philosophy behind some of his works that included this Charlie Brown.

We thought it was really cool to conceptualize what the skeleton of a shoe would look like and we came up with these.

This Friday, we will be launching the shoes at the environmentally friendly Greenhouse nightclub in Tribeca.  Come check out the collaboration, as well as the new Jump collection.  Ron English and Jump will be in attendance.

Justin Bieber rocks TABOOXJUMPs on Lopez Tonight

The most popular kid in the world is wearing TABOOXJUMP now!!  Never say never.

DeSean Jackson gets some Philly Jumps!

He saw the Green Zetos and had to cop a pair to represent his Eagles.

Jump Deluxe Spring 11 Collection

For Spring, we continue to evolve the collection to bring more lifestyle to footwear.

Happy Lunar New Year from JUMP!

Ron English x Jump x [ ] x NY Fashion Week

Man it was about a year ago when I first met the artist, Ron English, at Jump SoHo after seeing his work at the Opera Gallery.  I was familiar with him and his work but after actually seeing it and meeting him, became even more thoroughly impressed.  His subject matter is so subversive yet the fine art aspect of his work is done so skillfully and beautifully rendered that there really are not many artists out there like him.  So when we met, I knew we had to figure out how to do a sick collaboration.

He’d been doing a lot of work around skeletons and how to utilize them for some not so skeletal subjects.  For instance this Charlie Brown which was one of the favorites of the pieces of his I had seen at the time.

As well as this rendition of Guernica.

 

So we tossed around the idea of skeletons and he said, “yea what would the skeleton of a shoe look like?”  A few days later, while in China, I received this sketch.

This had to be one of the craziest shoe designs I’d ever seen and we had to make it.  I knew it wouldn’t be easy but my team would make it happen.  Fast forward and now I’d been approached by Barry Mullineaux, the owner of Greenhouse and Juliet about something new.  There weren’t a whole lot of details only that after having done our event at Juliet, he thought we could do something cool for a new space he was working on that would incorporate art and fashion into a nightlife setting.

I told him I had just the thing and got in touch with Ron.  He thought it’d be cool and we decided we’d launch this thing for New York Fashion Week.  We had another meeting yesterday, where for the first time, Ron got to see the samples.  He loved them.

So prepare yourselves for something in the works for NY Fashion Week (just next month!).  It’s going to be dope.

Ron Artest must be giving props to Prince Michael Jackson on his Purple Zetos

It looks like the new thing for Lakers fans is to rock their Purple Zetos to the game courtside.  Here’s Michael Jackson’s son Prince in his Zetos with Jackie Jackson.  Being heir to the fortune, he can afford a ton of Jumps.  Ha.

Tae Yang from Big Bang hits up Jump SoHo

Korean pop star Tae Yang came by the store today to cope a new pair of Jumps. He went for the TABOOXJUMP Vested sneaker.

Dude is HUGE in Korea as he is also a part of the YG group Big Bang.  Check out his video.