Supermodel Nicole Trunfio picks up JUMP Sneakers

Nicole Trunfio stopped by the Model Lounge to cop some Vanquish.

Check out her new site www.nicoletrunfio.net

Large sized JUMP.

Friedman’s is a store in Atlanta that has been around forever.  They cater to men and women with large feet.  If you need sizes 14 & up you can check out Friedman’s.

Here’s JaVale McGee and Andray Blatche from the Wizards with one large Vanquish Violet Patent Croco.

JUMP on NiceKicks.com

Akira Fashion Show

While out here in Chicago, we’ve had the pleasure of visiting most of Akira’s nine stores.  The owners, Erikka and Jon were quite hospitable.  It’s really quite spectacular as they essentially run Chicago’ fashion scene through a slew of events hosted by some very well known celebrities.  Check out some images from their last fashion show sponsored by JUMP.

THE ZETO

First there was VANQUISH.  Now there is ZETO.  As it were an evolutionary next step into the journey of deluxification, dawns the coming of the newest offering from JUMP.  Hand crafted from a myriad assemblage of materials from the four corners of the globe, it features leathers aged in metallic copper, patents etched from the skins of dragon kings and full interior linings from the hides of cows that rival Kobe.  It is a sneaker snatched from the lockers of the gods and now available, finally, to mankind.

Behold, the Zeto in Copper Metallic Leather.  This colorway is available exclusively at select Bloomingdale’s locations.

The Zeto in Purple Boa Patent and Suede trim.

The Zeto in Black Patent and Nappa trim.

The Zeto in Grey Patent and Elephant trim.

The Zeto in White Patent and Pearlized Snake trim.

The Zeto in Burgundy Boa Patent and Matte Nappa trim.

The Zeto in Black Boa Patent and Suede trim.

The Zeto in Black Patent and Pearlized Snake trim.

For extra credit, comment and share what you would put in the zip pocket.

Customer of the week: Tahj Mowry from Sister Sister

Remember this dude?  He copped a pair of the Vanquish to wear to the VMAs.

Customer of the Week: Ben Hollingsworth

When Ben showed up to the Upfronts he was already wearing the Paxton and got turned onto JSD by the Vigors.  Today he came back and got the Vanquish in Black Nappa.  Watch out for his show, The Beautiful Life on the CW premiering September 16th.

Lights Resolve

I had the chance to meet these dudes yesterday.  They’re with a very up and coming band called Lights Resolve and they’re all over the place.  I’m going to see them on Thursday at the Bowery Ballroom.  Very cool guys originally from Long Island.

Customer of the Week

Ryan Grant, running back for the Greenbay Packers wearing the Vanquish in Grey Ivis Patent.

And his homies with the Vague in Taupe and the Vigor in Navy.

And some of our staff behind the counter.  We got some cuties eh?

Superman rocks the Vanquish. When he flies.

Check out Brandon Routh from Superman Returns and Zack and Miri Make a Porno.  He’s with his wife here on the red carpet at Comic Con.

Watch out for some sequels coming out!!

It was one hell of a good week.

So the Project NY show was an amazing success.  The line looked fantastic and we did more business the first day in NY than we did all three days in the last Vegas show so I can only imagine what will happen at the next Vegas show.  I’m already getting ready for Compass this week!  Besides all our favorite buyers and many new buyers, we had some high profile people roll thru the booth as well.  The celebrity love continues.

First we had Kenny Loggins swing by and he was totally into the Vanquish in Purple Croco.

You might remember Kenny as the creator of some 80s megahits like Dangerzone!!!!

This video makes me want to jump up and exclaim “YES!!”  Totally my next karaoke conquest.

Shortly after, we had Ryan Grant of the Greenbay Packers, who was already a JUMP fan, check out the new line.

Again, at this show, the heavy hitters are the Vanquish and of course the new Zeto that will be in stores for August.  What we did was take these two items and really blow them up to offer our customers a lot of options.  Here’s a sneak peek at some of the new Vanquish that Courtney from American Rag picked out for her stores in the West Coast.

So after such a successful first day of show, we didn’t feel guilty partying hard after the second day of the show at our store in SoHo.  We had the usual fare, Serrano Ham (which always leaves me hungry for more the day after I have it), cocktails sponsored by Red Bull and of course, Johnnie Walker.

We had a fantastic turnout.

There’s me, Harry Chen and Lawrence Chen.

Click on people’s faces in the photo to tag them.

Here’s Michelle Suh, Bloomingdale’s Art Director and Cara Diorio, Bloomingdale’s Asst. Buyer.

Here we are with Don Calder, owner of Local Celebrity and his friend.

Some random Austrian people who were lucky enough to be walking down Spring St.

Starr Ferguson, Saks Buyer and my old Lord & Taylor colleague, getting herself the Vanquish in Green Purple Reflex Patent.

Herman and our homeboy Eric Yang, handbag manufacturing magnate.

Lerny and friend.

Xiao-li, Saks Assistant Buyer and Shawn, our Saks Buyer.

Diana Tse, Steven Alan buyer and Lana Wong.

Larry with a random cougar from the street.

Don’t know who those two dudes were but they got MINGED.

There’s Darius, YRB editor on the right with some friends.

Here’s Tahirah, owner of Krisol in LA, and I.

Ed Bennett, brought his friends, Faye Ly, actress and model and Tora Brava, musician to join the festitivies.

Some of our lovely staff manning the liquor.

Here’s Alex, certified ham slicer and Joy.  We conquered that ham.

And it looks like it was a big week for parties in SoHo as the next night Guess had a big opening party around the corner from us.

Lydia Hearst and Michelle Trachtenberg were there.

And the darling Amber Rose was looking fly.

We took this picture together after the interview but my boy, Henry, was all nervous and it came out like this.  She told Henry and I we were cute.  That’s why I’m blushing.

The following night was another event!  THE CENTER hosted the Midsummer Night’s Salon with my buddy’s Ed Bennett and Dusty Wright.  Following all the real performances we had a jam session where we did our rendition of Hound Dog.

It was quite a week!!

Newest fan: John Legend

So it looks like the Vanquish has another new fan, one whom I happen to be quite a big fan of: Mr. John Legend.  He’s been touring through New Orleans, Florida and Georgia and it looks like everywhere he goes, he’s wearing JUMP!

John Legend preforms during the 2009 Essence Music Festival at the Louisiana Superdome on July 3, 2009 in New Orleans. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images).  He’s wearing the Vanquish in Black Super Luxe Soft Nappa.

John Legend performs in concert at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida on July 9, 2009. (UPI Photo/Michael Bush) Photo via Newscom.  He’s wearing the Vanquish in Black Silver Kid Crystal.

July 5, 2009 – Atlanta, GA – Grammy Winner John Legend performed at Chastain Park. Photo Credit: Dan Harr/AdMedia.  He’s wearing the Vanquish in Grey Super Luxe Soft Nappa.

Buy them online!

Bobo hearts the Vanquish.

Everyday I come home, I find Bobo nestled amongst my shoes, most of the time on the Grey Nappa, probably because they’re so soft.  This time she built a fort.

This was completely unstaged.

JUMP on BEP in OK! Magazine

Again, ubiquitously omnipresent.

BEP on The David Letterman Show in JUMP

Tab’s wearing the Vanquish in Grey Ivis Patent performing their new song, “I Gotta Feeling”, on The David Letterman Show.

The Vanquish as worn by BEP at the MTV Video Music Awards in Japan

Taboo, Fergie, Apl and Will on the red carpet in Saitama, Japan for the MTV Video Music Awards.  Taboo’s got on the Vanquish once again!  Check out their new video for “I Gotta Feeling”.

Michael Rady from the upcoming Melrose Place

Don’t you love how they’re taking all the stuff from your childhood and bringing it back for people who were born in the 90s?  Check out Michael Rady with the Vanquish in Black Silver who will be on Melrose Place, coming this fall to the CW.

Best seller.

I remember when I first started my career as an assistant buyer at Lord and Taylor, I would dread Mondays, not just because of the hangover, but because of all the damn recaps we had to do.  Some days it could literally consume your entire day.  Not only that, you had every vendor you worked with calling you for their reports and if you had a lot of brands, it could really be overwhelming!  Now as a vendor, I hotly anticipate the day to see how well we did and what checked and it can really make or break my week.

Last week, it was resoundingly clear that the Vanquish in Violet Patent Croco was the hands down winner.  In a week, we sold thru over 20% of our inventory, which at retail, in this economy, is utterly unheard of!!  I’ve recently been wearing them myself and in one day, had 2 people stop me on the street, 1 person on the subway and another at a store, who turned out to be the owner, asking where I got them.  What better validation can you ask for?  These things sell themselves!  We’re making new colors of it too.  That’s the cool thing about working in a pretty vertically integrated organization – you can react quickly to the demands of the market.  Actually we’re working on a lot of dope colors of the Vanquish!  Just wait…

For now, get these at Bloomingdale’s – if they’re still there!

Al Capone wears JUMP

I met Stephen Graham through Andrea, the ultimate connector of people.  He’s been in movies like Gangs of New York and shows like Band of Brothers but I’m really stoked to see him in his next HBO show called Boardwalk Empire, where he plays Al Capone.  Directed by Martin Scorcese!  We were talking about his role and it’s a credit to the power of the writers, directors and actors that craft characters like Henry the VIII, Dexter and Tony Soprano in such a way that you feel a connection to them and root for them even though they may be outright dogs, murderers and criminals.  Stephen tried on the Vanquish and was sold right away.  He said he doesn’t usually wear high tops and opts for his Adidas low tops but once he put on the Vanquish in Grey Nappa, he was converted.  He also remarked that he’d worn Travel Fox back in the UK.  Very cool guy.

Connor Paolo wearing JUMP at the Upfronts

Connor is from the show, Gossip Girls.  He’s wearing the Vanquish in Black Silver Kid Crystal.