JUMP

-Jumping is the act of propelling oneself upwards, using one's own power, into the air, and then returning back to either the same surface or another surface some distance away. why did u decide on JUMP as the company name and how does it reflect ur objectives?


In 1975, when JUMP was established in Taiwan we were an athletic sports brand and so JUMP made very good sense. Since then, as the brand's evolved, so has the meaning. It's come to represent more of a transcendental JUMP, a JUMP in consciousness, to be daring in how you express yourself. We still make great sneakers but what we offer now is a different sort of sneaker not necessarily meant for the court or the field but into the world of fashion, music and the arts. It is the definitive convergence of high end street and aggressive luxury.

- ur level of achievement is impressive. how did u start the company?

Though the company had been around for 30 years, achieving success globally, it just arrived to the US in 2007. We've done everything in a grassroots way, being aggressive with our design but careful with how we run our company. We've grown our business very organically and are careful with how we place our product, keeping a high level of exclusivity of distribution. We always think about the long term, risk adjusted success of the brand rather than the quick buck!


-tell me about the creative process. how dose the company come up with the designs for the collections? do u use adobe illustrator or photoshop in the rendering process?

The creative process begins in New York where we do our research and begin concepting the new collection. Concurrently we have designers and product development teams in Spain and in China. In China, we convene and begin the collaboration process where we share ideas and bring things to life. What you can achieve out there these days is amazing. The level of experience they have now is astonishing and you have access to basically any sort of material you want! You can have a sketch one day and a sample the next. This is the most exciting part of the entire process!

-what is ur most popular shoes?

The most popular shoe we have right now is called The Vanquish. It is a high top adapted from a best selling shoe from the 80s under one of our former brands, Travel Fox. In the 80s we sold hundreds of thousands of pairs so we decided we had to bring it back under JUMP using our funky materials. It's been phenomenal - doing some amazing things at retail in what is supposed to be a horrible economy. You can see more about it here http://jumpshoes.wordpress.com/2009/04/01/vanquish/.

-the mens collection seem to be getting a lot more press than the female collection, is there a reason? do men care more about their shoes then women? i know i do!!

This will change once we begin to offer the Vanquish for womens. At our store, we just had too many requests to ignore the demand for that shoe. I just gave Fergie a pair of the Vanquish in Reflex Patent.


-for the buyers reading this interview, what trade shows can we expect JUMP?

You'll find us at all the major shows:Project NY and Las Vegas, Compass Las Vegas, WSA C-7, Bread and Butter, FFANY, Mess Around Paris, all the regional shows including Miami, Chicago, Atlanta as well as a host of Canadian shows our distributor and his agents attend

-what r your prince points both men and women?

Men's range from $168 to $268 and women's range from $78 to $188.

-can we expect to see kobe byrant or rapper young jeezy in a piar of jump?

I don't see why not?! We made a personalized pair for Amar'e Stoudemire and he loved them. We had to open up a mould for size 14!

- what is in store for 20010 and other than the JUMP stores where can we find ur products?

You can find us in Bloomingdale's, Saks, Kitson, Oak and other great boutqiues. I leave for China on Saturday to work on Spring 10 but I think you'll see we're going to keep taking it to the next level.

- can i get a discount on the purple skins pair?

20% off! haha.