Alumni

Jasmine Bon Launches Streetwear Brand $ZZ¥

Merchandise Product Development Alumna Jasmine Bon just announced the launch of her streetwear brand, $ZZ¥. We caught up with the entrepreneur to get the story.

Tell us the story behind your streetwear brand: I ultimately wanted to create a movement with my brand. $ZZ¥'s slogan is "bad decisions bunch." There was something Logic said in an interview that stuck out to me. He said, "...we live in a day and age where peace, love, and positivity are considered whack..." That it's a bad decision to have big dreams and hope for something bigger than you can possibly imagine. It resulted in thoughts that positivity and kindness could have some kind of ulterior motive to it. I don't want negativity to take over in this world. We shouldn't be safe with normal; we should go outside our boundaries to live life in wonder and to follow our purpose. So I owned up to the "bad" name. I made it a mission for bad decisions—to spread positivity, love, courage, and kindness through art.

How long have you been working on the idea? I always knew I wanted to start a brand every since I was little but I took the initiative in April of last year.

How did it come to fruition? It came to fruition through love and passion. When people see that you are doing what you love and are passionate about what you're putting out, that vibe rubs off. It's contagious. Other people really will begin to support you and your brand/dreams will flourish when there's love and passion behind it. When love speaks, dreams and reality collide.

What inspires you? Definitely Tokyo. As a military brat, I had the amazing opportunity to live in Japan for high school. The fashion over there is definitely different from over here. I found a lot of my inspiration from there because in street Tokyo fashion, they can take a simple trend or pieces and make it extra. Whenever I would create, it was always too eclectic, too crazy, and too much—but not in Tokyo. No one is afraid to express themselves no matter how over the top it is.

How do you feel FIDM prepared you for what you are doing now? FIDM has helped me so much. Before I went to FIDM, I didn't know anything about how to get things sourced and manufactured. I didn't know how to illustrate clothes using Adobe Illustrator, and didn't know all the things you could do with Photoshop as well. I didn't even know what a tech pack was. FIDM really pushed me through its projects to help me understand how to get things started.

Any advice for a current FIDM Student who has dreams of launching their own fashion brand? If you really want to do it, you'll do anything in your power to make it work. It's going to take so much time, money, and effort. But in the end, when you see everything that you've been dreaming of turn into reality, it's worth it. When you're feeling discouraged, just remember to see things not as how they are, but how it could be.

What is your biggest goal right now? My biggest goal right now is to expand my brand. I hope to make this a full-time career and give people the chance to follow their dreams by creating a workplace where they can be happy going to work.

Anything else you’d like to share? I'm hosting a giveaway, so take a look at our Instagram @baddecisionsbunch to get information on how you could win any style from baddecisionsbunch.com :)