WGSN features JUMP at Project Las Vegas

In my career in merchandising and product development, WGSN has been an invaluable resource for trend information, news and inspiration and I use to read it religiously.  So it’s a great honor to be featured in their report!  Here’s a look at some of what we have in store for Fall 2010.

They’ve been published!

The campaign has officially launched.

To start, we are running “Sung Kang in Sneaker Deluxe” in YRB and Vice, both very dope mags.

And I introduce “Sung Kang in Tuxedo Man”.

We are running this one in Marie Claire’s Fall Fashion issue.

The female model is actually Julie LaPlaca, who was once my marketing associate and manager at the store (yes, we hire models).  She has now transported herself to LA to try her hand at fame and fortune.  Having modeled for Jump, she’ll be famous in no time.

!Stay tuned for the rest of the ads and short films!

New Windows!

Doing the windows is always quite a production.  I never go at it with any sort of plan really.  I generally have some sort of concept but it’s pretty loose.  It’s more like when I go antiquing and I find something that turns into another idea that turns into another one that leads me to my final visual destination. For these windows, I had happened upon a few antique stores in Asbury Park, NJ and flipped.  The stuff was awesome – all one of a kind and I knew if it were in NYC or Brooklyn, the prices would be double or triple.

This is Antique Emporium’s shop.

I want the Elvis painting for myself.

And finally, the completed windows.

Bad glare.  I’ll take better pictures.

You’ll notice an abundance of cameras.  Their arrival in the windows is to signify the completion of our Fall marketing campaign.  That and because old cameras are really cool.

Boat shoes.

Some more of the new styles that just hit the SoHo store.

Patent, contrast and solid.

The X-6!!!!!

I’ve personally been waiting for these to hit because I want them for myself (black patent)!!!  Finally they are here in SoHo!!

Follow us on Twitter to get tweets on our new goods, parties and whatever else Jump is up to!

Athletes dig Jump.

We’ve been getting a slew of NFL players in the store recently and they seem to really be into our kicks.  Here’s us with Leon Washington from the Jets.

Fred Bennett of the Texans and Ryan Grant from Greenbay.

Summer Private Sale

While we typically never run sales at our store, we would like to invite you to the first ever Summer Private Sale for members of our Facebook group! If you’re not already a member, you may join here.  Just print the page showing that you’ve joined and our lovely staff will gladly extend you an 18% discount off everything in the store! The sale will last 7 days only, starting 11 AM, July 18th and will end 8PM, July 24th.

We are located in SoHo at 89 Spring St. between Broadway and Mercer. Hope to see you there!

Taiwan Part 2: The Shoot

The expectations were high and I was, admittedly, a bit nervous on how it’d all turn out. We’d planned it for months and our concepts were solid but, of course, there were a few variables. One being that I’d never done anything like this before; the last shoot I was involved in was at a much smaller scale and a lot less complex. There would be a host of creative minds involved: me (Jump marketing director), Jeff (Blanq founder and director), Shu (photographer), Sung (actor/model), Boris and Jason (hair stylists), makeup, etc. Working in fashion, I’ve found where things are highly subjective, there’s a lot of room for disagreement and discord. Somehow though, this team was completely different; it’s not to say that we agreed on everything but somehow all our minds were synced in such a way that we were able to figure out solutions very easily and agree upon what struck us as the right treatment.

Here’s Sung getting dolled up.

Julie too.

Here’s a look at Tuxedo Man meets Modern English.

Here’s some of the crew taking a break. That’s Boris, Shu and Jason. Long hair was big.

After two days, ten hours each, the shoot was done. There was definitely a real synergy, no egos getting in the way and we were really able to just create! Jeff had already figured out how to translate our concepts into print and styled it. Fresh from shooting Ninja Assassin, Sung was able to bring an active element that worked beautifully with what we were doing. In addition, his work ethic was amazing. Shot after shot, he simply delivered whatever we asked him to do, “Turn your head this way and make sure your foot is angled that way so you can see the shoe.” Et voile, he’d get it in the next shot and do 8 different ones that all kept those elements but had different nuances to them. And then there was Shu who was able to capture each and every aspect of it with his camera. He is the number one photographer in Taiwan and even he remarked that he’d never worked with anyone like Sung before. There was no way he could’ve achieved those results from just a model.

And we gave it a Jump!

Needless to say, the shoot went beautifully and the campaign will launch soon. I’m just starting to get some of the finished ads sent from Taiwan and they look phenomenal! Watch out for the first ad in Marie Claire’s September issue.

We celebrated with a very unique dinner at a Mongolian restaurant.

The 89 Spring Street SoHo Boutique

In October of 2007, we opened our first US flagship store. The opportunity had come to take over a space in SoHo on Spring St. between Broadway and Mercer. If you’re at all familiar with New York, you’ll know that this address is a prime locale. So we knew we had to do it. The question then was how to make it happen? How do you properly design this conduit to the inner sanctum of the Jump brand? We knew we wanted to position ourselves as an entry level luxury brand and that we’d want it to be like a living showroom. We wanted it to be an experimental store where we’d test the brand’s most directional product.The wheels were set in motion and we decided on our colors: gold and black.

The rest was quite organic, actually. The space has one of those ornate tin ceilings that was white and kind of dusty and lackluster but when painted gold, it revealed a latent charm that gave me the inspiration to decorate the rest of the store. I trounced around Brooklyn and Manhattan perusing each and every antique and vintage shop to find the right items to dress the space. I wanted it to feel regal and grand but with a sophisticated vintage twist. Bit by bit the pieces began to fit together until finally we had a store.

We found that the store was a great spot to hold events. We always had great turnouts.

Taiwanese TV network, ETTV, covered our opening party.

Our CEO, Harry, always knows how to make a big splash. Check out this pimped out vintage limo.

Even LXTV took notice of us and aired us on their show First Look NY. It ran on NBC and in taxi cabs all over New York.

Then one day two artists named David and Jessica Foox stopped into the store. They fell in love with the brand and wanted to get involved. It began with some hand painted shoes and evolved into a full out mural painting.

Here’s the finished work.

It incorporates the likeness of our Hollywood Brand Ambassador, Sung Kang, famous for his role as Han in Fast and Furious Tokyo Drift. We flew him in to film a series of video shorts playing on various characters that identify our brand. The films came out phenomenally as both he and the indie filmmaker, Arowana Films, are both quite talented. Watch out for the short films to be released beginning in July. More on our collaboration in the next post.

At the mural’s completion, we threw a huge bash, our biggest ever which drew a crowd of over 250 people, filling the entire store and a party bus. P.I.N.K. Vodka supplied the booze.

When the festivities concluded at the store, we were shuttled to the exclusive SoHo House for the after party.

It’s not all just fun and games though. As a participant in the SoHo Stroll on June 7th, we decided we would donate $8 from each pair of shoes sold that day to China’s Earthquake Relief Fund. When Harry learned of the event, he decided we should extend the drive to last for 8 days and that he would personally match all the funds raised. The drive is still on! Please stop by the store and make a difference! Our staff is extremely kind and will help you to some coffee or ice water for this hot weather!

Jump has a new voice.

Hello the internet,

I am Jump, a brand of shoes “for the people”. We urge people to be daring, to try something they might not normally try in our shoes. Our fashion is world-class (global design team), but our pricepoints are affordable ($100-$250). Take a look at our latest collection for men and women. As you will see, we have something for everyone. These styles will hit stores in about a month. The full collection will be on display and sold at our living showroom, the SoHo boutique at 89 Spring St. (between Broadway and Mercer) in NYC.

This blog will be a channel to relate all the various aspects of our brand and for people to interact with us. It’s an exciting young brand that exists beyond the realm of shoes. We travel, we laugh, we sing and now, we will write about it all. I hope you will join us on this adventure as we build our brand.