Hardies and Victor Victor Worldwide just released a collab collection and Tyshawn Jones was in town for the campaign. We sat down to talk about the collab and his 2nd signature shoe, Tyshawn II, which is coming out soon from adidas Skateboarding.
──TYSHAWN JONES (ENGLISH)
[ JAPANESE / ENGLISH ]
Photo_Taiyo Tanida
Special thanks_Human Made
VHSMAG (V)： How did the collaboration between Hardies and Victor Victor Worldwide come about?
Tyshawn Jones (T)： Just organically me and Steven as friends, and we thought it'd be a good idea to do something together and premiere it in Japan.
V： Tell us about the items and designs.
T： A couple tees, a couple hoodies, coaches jacket and a hat, some socks. I think that's pretty much it. Victor Victor's dog is obviously their iconic logo alongside our pre curve Hardies NYC. So I think it was cool to take from both of the company's heritage and bring it into the collab together.
V： Tell us about the ollie over Ferrari that's used on one of the tees. That's Steven Victor, the owner of VVW's Ferrari, right?
T： Before me and Steven knew each other, we shared a mutual friend. I wanted to ollie a car. It's been an idea of mine for a while, and I knew Steven had some vehicles, so I asked my friend if he could ask Steven if he'd be down. It just came together like that.
V： So it was your idea to ollie over a Ferrari.
T： I didn't know it would be that specific one, but yeah, it was. I was originally down to pay to rent it. I was honestly going to do it with just a regular 478. But there's not a lot of luxury rental places in New York. So it was kind of hard to find. I was originally going to do it in Miami, but the Steven's situation came about. It worked out better because that's not an easy Ferrari to come by.
V： So no scratch or anything? How many tries did it take?
T： You just had to be there. The world may never know.
V： Tell us more about the Subway treflip. That's the same subway station as the one you did the kickflip on, right?
T： Yeah, the same station. I think I was just at home and started thinking of things that I want to do, and it came about by just me wanting to do it and I wanted to put it on Instagram. I felt like I did the other one in the past and I didn't want to take away from it. That was the ending of the Supreme video and had a cover and stuff. So I still wanted to do it, but I wanted the next moment to be something people had never seen before. That's why I put it on Instagram.
V： That's an ender material. I was surprised that it went straight to Instagram.
T： But I feel like it was my ender before, so the next ender, I want it to be different.
V： You're having your second shoe from adidas, the Tyshawn II. I heard it's going to be a big campaign, with different colorways coming out pretty much every month. What's different from your first one?
T： I think the first shoe is very performance based with a great look to it, but to me it reads more like a skate shoe. This shoe to me seems a little bit more lifestyle and ties back into the roots of adidas, but still having that skate aspect to it.
V： The campaign for your shoe is called Second to None and it emphasizes your focus, determination, and drive. That pretty much explains who you are.
T： I think the determination comes from within and I'm just a person who likes to try to keep pushing the needle forward. So I'm always thinking of what's next and how I could be better than my last self. So I feel like as I go into the next chapter of my career, something new footwear wise was mandatory.
V： Do you have any video coming out with the shoe?
T： Yeah, I got a commercial. It's not a part or anything, but it's got a couple tricks in there.
V： You've won SOTY Twice, you have your own brands, shoe releases and you even have a restaurant. What's your mindset and process for achieving your goals?
T： I'm a very goal oriented person and I always want more, not that I'm not satisfied with what I've done. I think I'm still physically able to keep pushing what I could do in skateboarding forward. I think it's necessary for me to do so. And as I achieve more, I want to keep doing what I love to do, which is making cool stuff and pushing things forward.
V： Looking back at all your achievements, what are you most proud of?
T： I don't want to give too much power to any one of 'em. I would just say I'm proud of being able to keep pushing forward and being in a spot to feel like I'm getting started. I don't feel like I'm slowing down any bit. I feel like I've gotten better and I'm in my prime right now, and I just want to keep things executed.
V： Distribution of King Skateboards in Japan is starting this year.
T： With all the brands, I definitely want to have a big presence in Japan. I love Japan, period. I've been coming here since I was young, and I love the skateboard scene out here. I like skaters like Daisuke Ikeda. I think it'd be cool to do events out here and really tap in with the community and push skateboarding forward. Hopefully Japan embraces us with the same love.
V： What's next?
T： I'm just trying to keep skating and stacking this footage for the next project.
Tyshawn Jones
@tyshawn
Born 1998, in Bronx, NYC. Two-time SOTY winner and known as the King of New York. He just released a collaboration with his brand Hardies and Victor Victor Worldwide, and his second signature Tyshawn II from adidas Skateboarding is about to be released.
