A visionary ahead of his time, Charles Jay is a South Jersey designer inspired by the style he grew up with – bright, colorful, 90s street style. Though taking inspiration from the 90s, Charles puts his on spin on the designs by entering the realm of athletic luxury with Urbane.
It’s not necessarily streetwear but it’s not necessarily high fashion, it’s really the in-between of the two.
Background
Charles played sports growing up even against the warnings of his family and doctors. At the age of 2, Charles was diagnosed with cancer. What stuck with him was the building blocks he played with during the time he spent in the hospital when getting treatment. That is why his logo is six colorful building blocks. One of his proudest moment as a designer is finally being able to trademark that logo as his. It represents an important part of his life and a proud reminder that he has beaten cancer.
Project Survivor
Charles wants to support and honor those going through a similar situation that he himself has been through. A newly launched program, Project Survivor aims to give back to those fighting cancer and cancer survivors by providing them gift boxes with products from the brand and other gift items to add a bit of hope and joy into the lives of those fighting cancer.
I honor the cancer survivors because we have a similar story and that’s really what motivates me.
And although giving back is not something Charles brags about, he does want to share and honor the stories of the cancer survivors.
Running the Business Side
The hardest part of running his own business was balancing the creative/design side of things with the business side. Charles is a visionary with a mind for creating. When he gets an idea in mind, he has to get it down digitally within three days.
One thing he learned is that sometimes he needed to let his design side take a step back so the business side can do what is best of marketing and selling the products. Another thing he learned is the importance of timing to market, especially in fashion.
COVID-19 Impact
Pre-COVID, products were made at a smaller scale. However, with the shift in time and economy due to COVID-19, Charles had to find a more efficient way to produce his produces while not comprising the quality.
With the shift to working with wholesalers, Charles is able to collaborate with local print shops to give them an opportunity to not only work with the brand but also to support others who were also hit pretty hard with COVID-19.
COVID also put a damper on the original idea and timing of the first watch launch. But Charles was able to quickly pivot. Originally, the plan was to have a launch party. Instead, he worked quickly to connect with a company to create an augmented reality display of the watch and launched it virtually.
Goals
When not working on his personal projects, Charles is helping other designers build their passion projects. Urbane started as a testimony to prove to clients what he is capable of building, marketing, and running an e-commerce.
His long term goal from the start has always been to open up a consulting company where he would help other designers develop higher quality products and help artists with their merchandise. He has already started working with a couple of clients to do this.