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Soletron.com got an opportunity to chat exclusively with Jay Marley,  Owner & designer of JFIVE Clothing Company. We talked about everything from what got him into fashion to hat inspired his palm tree and sunset inspired garments. You’ve seen Ke$ha, Bono, Shania Twain & Soulja boy rocking JFiVE, now get to know the man behind the brand.

How old were you when you decided you wanted to get into fashion?

It wasn’t ever really fashion that I wanted to get into. I just needed something to put my creative mind towards since my rap game is suspect & I always wanted to be around music.
Was J Five your introduction into fashion or had you done work with other brands before?

Yup JFiVE was started literally from my high school classes.  I would sketch down ideas all day, everyday.  I’m learning everything on the fly without a mentor or professor. Every dollar has been out of my pocket.
How did you come up with the name “J Five”? What does it mean?

I started this line to hopefully put my family in a better position in life so I wanted to involve my family in the line name. I have 5 brothers & sisters with all first names that start with J so I went with JFiVE. There are also 5 branches on the Palm Tree logo.  V is roman numeral for 5 so we use JV as well.

J Five has a very bright, summertime feel, what inspired you to go in that direction with the design?

I was born & raised in South Beach. My pops would take me to hang out on Ocean Ave. all the time & that was my biggest influence because I would see all the candy paint whips, pastel color buildings, trippy colorways in fashion, different aquas of the ocean & most importantly the palm trees were instilled in my mind and then into JV.

When did you launch J Five? Is J Five sold in stores or only online?

I have been doing this for around 4 years. We’re held in a few stores around the United States but the best way to find our product is on our site www.JFiVElife.com We do limited releases you won’t find anywhere but the website.

Do you consider J Five as a streetwear brand?

We definitely rock with the streetwear community but I wouldn’t label us that. We connect with more types of people then just the “streetwear, hip hop” crowd. The Tree Lifers Unite movement will be more than clothing in 2013 & that is another reason I wouldn’t label this line “streetwear”. It’s for everyone that has a positive outlook on life despite the unfortunate problems we have in the world, we keep it movin’.

What advice do you have for college students who are looking to branch into fashion?

You have to put yourself around people that are doing what you’re trying to pursue in life. Like if you want to learn how to shape surfboards then I would move where there is an ocean.  I was trying to create a clothing line so I moved to one of the meccas of clothing lines out of high school, San Francisco.
What was one of the highlights in your fashion career?

I would say when the bruh bruh Curren$y wore our first Letterman jacket in the “Still” video a few weeks after Spitta saw me selling gear out of a trunk in front of one his shows & all of JLR rocked with me after that night. It was super chill.
How do you hope to differentiate your brand from other urban brands?

I honestly pay no attention to any other brand or what they are releasing.  I can guarantee to myself and everyone else that I’m the originator of everything I put out because of this & that is all I care about, being original.
What does the future hold for J Five?

We go with the wind. I really have no restrictions on where JFiVE can be in the next 5 years. We could not even be in clothing anymore- instead we could have the biggest music festival in the world in 10 years. haa you never know!

Find more JFive at JFiveLife.com and follow them on Twitter @JFiVECC.

Soletron Kills Time & Burns Trees With JFiVE Clothing