Jerry Lore and Jason Tsai are in business for the right reason. They absolutely love what they do and if they are not having fun then something must be wrong. Like anything else, starting a clothing company is something you need to be interested in. This interview with the Jask Clothing founders is what everyone interested in starting a clothing company should read. Learn from Jerry Lore and Jason Tsai, two individuals who know what they are doing. Find out how to find manufacturers, how to get your clothes in stores, how to deal with the risk of having your designs/ideas stolen, and most importantly, how to have fun doing all of it.
Why is Jask Clothing different than all the other clothing company’s out there?
Here’s where we can feed you some bullsh*t about how we’re different and we’re the best and all that other good stuff. But we’re not reinventing the wheel here. To be honest with you, we don’t know if we’re different from other clothing lines out there. We have a message to get across. But so do dozens of other companies. We produce some of the most eye-catching tees out there. But so do dozens of other companies. Not to sound too selfish, but we basically got into this business because we thought it would be fun. We’ve met so many inspiring and interesting people, we’ve been challenged, and we’ve learned a great deal. So to answer the question, I would say that we’re just like any other clothing line out there – except with our own interests and beliefs poured into our work.
How were you able to get Jask Clothing off the ground?
Jask currently consists of just two people, Jason Tsai and Jerry Lore. The idea of Jask started in 2004 but didn’t really get off the ground until 2005, when Jason moved up to NYC from the Philly area. It was here that Jason reached out to Jerry (they knew each other from Rutgers University) to help build the brand. Jason had the design background behind him as well as some business experience while Jerry provided the marketing expertise behind it. The start of Jask involved a lot of research online along with funds saved up from Jason’s previous job, which by the way, had nothing to do with design or clothing (it had to do with optical engineering).
Any investors? If so, how did you approach them and what was your experience like with them?
There are currently no investors, and we haven’t actively looked for any either. We have had people interested in being a part of the brand and its growth, but they never panned out. We believe that investors are an important part to a company’s growth and it really just comes down to 1) trust and 2) agreement. With the people that have approached us so far, none have met either of the criteria.
What is it like trying to find a Manufacturer?
It’s like trying to buy a new car. You do your research. You do a little test drive. You do more research. You do more test drives. And you keep on doing so until you find what you like. All of our manufacturing is done domestically so we have it easy in that we don’t have to deal with all the headaches that come with international manufacturers. In the end, “experimental” is probably the best way to explain the manufacturer search process.
Jask Clothing has an inspiring logo and on your website you explain, “Our logo symbolizes the common theme of mankind fighting to be the best.” You also use the slogan, “Struggle is Only a Minor Setback.” Why that logo and slogan?
The logo comes from the I-Ching, which consists of what’s called “hexagrams” to describe a person’s “position” at that particular moment. There are 64 hexagrams and the one our logo depicts literally means “difficulty in the beginning.” This message was just something that spoke to us. We didn’t want this literal translation to be our slogan for obvious reasons so we looked for something to speak to it indirectly – almost as if it was a reply. So we came up with “Struggle is Only a Minor Setback” and felt that it was exactly the message we wanted to get out to the masses. If you look into the lives of great men, you’ll find that all of them have gone through a great deal to become what they’ve become. We chose our logo and slogan to focus more so on the process that gets you to the top.
Jask Clothing is in stores worldwide. How did you get your clothes into these stores?
Online research, hitting the pavement guerilla-style, tradeshows, emails, store visits, sales trips, referrals, word-of-mouth, a lot of persistence, patience and time.
How do you feel about the global market? Being in Japan, Taiwan, and the United States, where do you like doing business better?
We’d have to say United States on this one. Unfortunately, we haven’t had enough time to travel overseas to get a general sense of what the market is like out there. We have a good idea of what it’s like from research and just word-of-mouth, but there’s no better way than to be out there with the people and finding out what people are doing firsthand.
How do you overcome the fear of having your designs stolen? How cautious do you have to be about your designs with all the stealing of ideas that goes on?
We personally feel it’s a bit of a compliment when you have a design stolen. Its almost as good as having someone buy your product because they love it. It means you’re doing something right. Of course, that doesn’t mean that we look forward to having this happening. We just believe it’s a part of business. A good example would be the whole auto-tune fad that’s going on in hip-hop/pop/R&B. I’d like to think T-Pain started it, but I’m pretty sure he just made it popular. Then Kanye hopped on. Then Lil’ Wayne. And the list goes down the line form here. In any case, to answer the question, it’s a challenge. And like any challenge, it helps you come up with bigger and better concepts and ideas.
What goals do you have for yourself and Jask Clothing?
To keep on having fun while we do our damn thing.
What advice can you give to an individual interested in started a clothing company?
Make sure you really want to get into something like this. We can definitely say for a fact that there were a few times where we wanted out of this game. But it always came back to the fact that we were still enjoying what we were doing. When you are starting any type of business, there will always be things that you did not see coming. And that’s why you REALLY need to want to get into the fashion business. Other than that, just do your research and always look for a way to turn negative criticism into a positive result.
Thanks to Jerry Lore and Jason Tsai at Jask Clothing for the informative interview!
See all of Jask Clothing’s designs and more
