Instagram has had a bigger impact on our current state of fashion more than ever before. Especially during a time when we canāt flex our latest purchases in public, the platform has allowed sneaker and streetwear enthusiasts to showcase their fits and formulate their own independent aesthetics constantly. Pages like Hidden.NY, Old Man Alan, and Yungwatergun all curate specific tastes that reflect the current state of most fashion-forward people. Through archival photography that features textile rugs, old anime shows, and even early images of Pharell, these three pages are some of the few accounts that hold influence as to how todayās youth is dressing. But these pages would be nonexistent if it werenāt for the foundation built upon JJJJound. What was once a very niche blog page on the internet, has established a sudden mood board craze on Instagram that has effected the sneaker community. The mood board aesthetic that JJJJound formulated has brought older silhouettes into the forefront, shining a light on whatās happening culturally within fashion. Showing off both chunky New Balances and Nike Dunks within the posts has presented these silhouettes to a new generation and was a window into this subculture of carpenter pants and worn out Carhartt jackets. It is peculiar to most as to how a simple blog has evolved into this extremely profitable system that influences the current scope of fashion and social media.
Posts from @Yungwatergun, @Oldmanalan, and @Hidden.NY
Founded by Montrealer Justin Saunders, JJJJound, as we know it today actually started as a blog. Originally titled MAYBE SOMEDAY, back in 2008 Saunders made an unlikely move to remove text from his site. During a time, known as the Blog Era, where everyone was blogging everything, from politics to music, having a website which featured no words was unusual and novel. What would replace the words would be pictures, but pictures that served a certain lifestyle. Images of vintage cars, movie scenes, tan interiors, and model-like women, were to Saunders, āreferences that inspired [him]ā in an interview with Saturdays NYC. The images, or what he calls āmoodsā, captivated viewers and helped attract some of todayās cultural icons such as Virgil Abloh and Kanye West, who, in a 2016 interview with Surface Magazine, proclaimed that he asks himself āIs this Jound approved?ā.
JJJJoundās eye for aesthetics and image curation has led him to create his own line of essential products that mimic the same monotone, minimalist looks that the JJJJound blog was founded on. Brands also hoped to attract some of that cult following that Saunders accumulated, leading him to his successful sneaker collaborations.
Some of JJJJound’s biggest collaborations with Vans, New Balance, and Reebok
Saunders only has a few collaborations under his belt, but with each release he has helped push the JJJJound aesthetic even further, which in turn, has only increased the resale value of each shoe. Currently, the JJJJound brand has 10 sneakers on StockX, each reselling for over 120% of its original retail price. But if one were to notice, each sneaker takes similar cues from the other. When it comes to working on these products, Saunders goes out to, not make something with a lot of flash, but more so use āmaterials that would have [the] longest lifespan,ā he states in an interview with GQ on his first collab with Vans. And the colorways he chooses are ābased off what the shoe would look like old and beaten up.ā These taupe colors and worn, distressed looks are what we see portrayed since the creation of his mood boards and mimicked by fashion-forward individuals on social media, marking a movement thatās 12 years in the making. These JJJJound Vans, by the way, have sold in the high hundreds on StockX, as the brown pair has sold recently for over $1K. This continues to prove that capturing that JJJJound feel is not only sought after but aspirational.
From Vans, Saunders would go on to create with New Balance and Reebok, each of which are brands that dominate in the resell market partially due to that JJJJound touch. āI was somewhat surprised by the first 990v3 we did together in 2018,ā said Joe Grondin, New Balanceās senior manager of global collaborations and energy. āWe did a very small amount of pairs so I knew it would sell out quickly but the response from consumers and media was definitely bigger than expected.ā The 990v3ās he is referring to are from their 2018 project, a similarly tonal brown suede pair of New Balance sneakers. And although the sneakers are extremely minimal, they currently resale for over $2K on our site.
JJJJound collaborations with New Balance and Reebok
This simplicity is seen from Reebok as well. The brandās own, Leo Gamboa, whoās responsible for bringing collaborations to the sportswear giant, alludes to this, saying āfirst thing that stood out was the simplicity and classic design aesthetic.ā āThe simple color pops with the iconic JJJJound brandingā continues Gamboa. The simplicity of colorways JJJJound used on his Reebok Club C and Classic Nylon iterations, which have been similar, if not completely identical to each modelās original hues, are also popular for their focus on material. āItās the elevated materials that separate it from the OG model that attracts consumers the most,ā said Gamboa. Saundersā work with Reebok isnāt immune to high resale values either, as the 2019 Club C has sold close to 200 pairs with each being within the $300-500 range. This yearās Classic Nylon release alone is already seeing resell values close to $500.
Thereās no denying that JJJJound is an anomaly of a brand and its evolution is unlike any other. Itās a brand that has developed its own secret formula for success, making sure to do the small things right. That is the most apparent in its sneaker collaborations. Despite designing subtle colorways that, some would say, are indistinguishable from a generic release, it is Saundersā keen focus on material and staying true to his understated aesthetic that has helped amassed such a hunger for any sneaker he touches. With another Reebok Club C on the way, which takes on yet another subtle color change, we wouldnāt be surprised to see the sneakers sell out within seconds and resell for similarly high values. No one else can deliver monotoned collaborations and make them as desirable, and if they do, it will be in the shadows of Saunders and his JJJJound imprint.
