{"id":1217030,"date":"2023-06-09T17:10:55","date_gmt":"2023-06-09T22:10:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/?p=1217030"},"modified":"2023-06-09T17:10:59","modified_gmt":"2023-06-09T22:10:59","slug":"jae-tips-is-finally-receiving-his-flowers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/jae-tips-is-finally-receiving-his-flowers\/","title":{"rendered":"From Reseller to Savior: Jae Tips is Finally Receiving His Flowers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

(Lead image via Jordan Keyser<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jae Tips<\/a> has taken the world by storm in a short span.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For some, the recently released Jae Tips x Saucony Grid Azura 2000<\/a> was the first introduction to the Bronx native. But for many, his collaboration was just the latest accolade for The Savior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more: Jae Tips x Saucony Grid Azura 2000 “Remember Who Fronted”<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Jae Tips’ ascension into sneakers, fashion, and pop culture started at an early age. With young parents in the Bronx, he stayed laced early on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“They expressed love through materials, so I had a shoe rotation in the first and second grade,” he said. “I was pretty young to know when the Jordans were coming out \u2014 they would take me to Dr. J\u2019s or Jimmy Jazz to get them.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As he grew older, so did his passion for sneakers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wanted it more than I felt that I deserved it.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Coming out of college, Jae Tips worked at Foot Locker and earned his stripes within the industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I started to ramp up and understand the business of shoes and that it\u2019s more than stacking the shoes to the top of the ceiling,” he said. “There’s people really making money through resell, consignment shops, buy\/sell\/trade.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His journey took a new direction as he decided to kick start his rap career and Jae Tips soon grew into The Savior through his bars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I left Foot Locker and pursued my rap career by going to the SXSWs, getting on blogs, and doing different things, so I started reselling shoes to make ends meet,” Jae Tips recalled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through reselling and even collecting some of the rarest and most coveted drops, Jae Tips garnered the attention of different pockets within different industries. From mentions in the peak blog era days to features on\u00a0Business Insider<\/em><\/a>, his legend grew larger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2019, Jae Tips was one of the many to step into Nike’s now-defunct\u00a021 Mercer<\/a>\u00a0in New York City \u2014 a hub for creatives, hype releases, and unmatched activations. As Jae Tips was heating up, he decided to create a Bespoke Nike Air Force 1 Low<\/a> and a rollout that would garner the attention of many.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“I wanted to have retail appeal with the Bespoke,” he said. \u201cI\u2019ve been in focus groups so I know brands are tight on budgets and materials and storytelling, so I know I can design something that you can\u2019t see somewhere else.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA store would put these materials on two or three different shoes because they\u2019re thinking about the marketability, the consumer, the demographics; they\u2019re thinking about so many other things rather than something unbelievable,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead of going with something conventional or orthodox, Jae Tips and his Bespoke aimed to be different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI wanted people to feel something,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s when I did it, made some merch, did some giveaways, some raffles, and just showed off my capabilities.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jae Tips\u2019 grassroot Bespoke was fully fledged. With product shots from then-Packer Shoes photographer Jordan Keyser<\/a>, a custom box, and organic media rollout, Jae Tips raised eyebrows and expectations \u2014 without a storefront, PR firm, or anything regarded as an industry standard.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThe [Air Jae Tips<\/a>] put me in such a light where for the first time people didn\u2019t look at me like I was just a kid reselling sneakers or a kid trying to make it on the blogs for having something rare,\u201d he said. \u201cI was trying my hardest to make the Bespoke come out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After countless meetings at Nike and its World Headquarters in Portland, Oregon, the Jae Tips 1 would remain confined to a Bespoke \u2013 but that didn\u2019t stop him and his larger dreams of having a sneaker collab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey\u2019ll offer you a job before they take you seriously,\u201d he recalled. \u201cI wanted it more than I felt that I deserved it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the time, those at Nike didn\u2019t see the vision. Though, the one person at the Swoosh who did believe in Jae Tips would be let go during the brand\u2019s mass exodus at the heart of the pandemic. With his old boss working at Saucony, he connected Jae Tips to the brand to spark something new. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t Travis Scott, I wasn\u2019t Virgil, I wasn\u2019t Drake,\u201d Jae Tips said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the backing of a brand was still null, Jae Tips found creativity elsewhere. Whether working on CADs that UNDFTD dropped as a part of a contest or even working on BAPE\u2019s BAPE STA paper kit, Jae Tips kept the dream alive.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Shortly the relationship between Saucony started to brew and Jae Tips channeled the energy toward his Savior Worldwide brand, primarily with fitted hats and then into apparel and accessories. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early on, Jae Tips sourced his New Era fitteds by going into the stock rooms of stores and searching through eBay to find something new and create something fresh.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFinding those rare colors and doing everything really started to build traction and help form a clothing brand,\u201d he said. \u201cEven though I found it in a basement in Queens or I found it on a website from Australia, now it says \u2018Savior\u2019 on it and it\u2019s going to say, \u2018Jae Tips.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While hats sold out and popularity grew, Jae Tips found himself somewhat lost with what was next for him and his brand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEven while I was doing everything with the hats, it felt like depression,\u201d he recalled. \u201cI couldn\u2019t go anywhere without someone saying when\u2019s your sneaker coming out<\/em>, when\u2019s your sneaker coming out<\/em>, when\u2019s your sneaker coming out<\/em>.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I gave up on sneaker dreams but the sneaker dreams are welcoming me back at the moment.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Jae Tips went into Hat Club<\/a>\u2019s NoHo location and was spotted from his Bespoke run by Pink Bottom Justin<\/a>, a revered figure within the hat community for his designs with Hat Club.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PBJ, who also saw the vision, tossed the idea of Jae Tips creating something. The conversation transformed into the Jae Tips x Hat Club New York Yankees collection with the Subway Series side patch.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cI used the colors from the Bespoke and the collection landed in the middle of the pandemic when nobody was in-store. No one was outside. But it took the internet by storm,\u201d Jae Tips remembered. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The recognition and hype exploded in no time.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe comments, the DMs, famous people reaching out \u2014 it took up so much. It led to another collection that led to doing things at other stores that led to a larger partnership with Hat Club for more drops.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking back at the relationship with Hat Club and the trajectory of the collections, Jae Tips found solace in that back then wasn\u2019t the time for the Bespoke to be larger than it was.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cMaybe I wouldn\u2019t have been ready for the Bespoke stuff, but now that people know who I am and what I do, I have more background to me,\u201d he said. \u201cI gave up on sneaker dreams, but the sneaker dreams are welcoming me back at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the early spring of 2021, Jae Tips and Saucony met at the brand\u2019s headquarters.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had the materials, colorways from my Bespoke and said I need this full circle moment no matter what because I put everything on the line to make this colorway happen,\u201d he recalled. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not only did the brand support Jae Tips from a creative standpoint, but they also backed him with his desired rollout by having a sample pair at ComplexCon \u2013 sticking to his homegrown nature.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

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A post shared by Snkrs Day (@snkrsday)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n