Finding your place as an independent designer in the fashion world is no easy fight, and self-taught designer Jason Demaci knows this all too well. But, when you strike gold, suddenly everything snaps into place and you find yourself on the path to building a global design house.
This is the very path that Demaci, the Givenchy and Kanye West-inspired designer, seems to have found himself on six years into building his brand and honing his design skills. In the last year, he has amassed a solid base of dedicated followers online who consistently buy out his drops and collections, typically within days. It wasn't always like this, however. Jason expressed his gratitude when asked about the response to his latest collection, stating bluntly, "nobody gave a fuck damn near a year and a half ago".
They certainly do now and, based on our discussion over the course of the interview, this is just the beginning. With an accessible street wear brand TWOTHOUSUND as well as a designer label under his own name, Jason Demaci is building his vision with zero compromise. When asked about design challenges and whether he has ever needed to dial anything back, the answer was clear: a resounding "fuck no".
Demaci's latest collection, titled Season 6, is proof that nothing gets dialed back in his world. With a concrete theme and consistent style, this ready-to-wear collection is confident and aggressive without being loud – a reflection of what seems to be the force driving the designer to cement his name in the fashion world for good.
I reached out to Jason with the hopes of getting to know more about his vision and, as it turned out, the timing could not have been better. We linked up through Instagram and had a casual conversation over text that resulted in a solid Q&A. Throughout the rest of this article, we cover his background, rise as a creative, Season 6, and what's to come, in the first public interview given by the designer.
Sam Rapaport
Jason Demaci
You hop between LA and Texas often. Where do you call home?
Right now I’m currently traveling back and forth from Texas, specifically the RGV area, and LA. I call LA home but Texas is growing on me a little. LA will forever be my home though.
When did you first start getting into fashion?
I fell in love with fashion when I was like 12 years old. I seen Kanye West wearing a crazy ass rottweiler T-shirt. And I was like, “damn, what brand is that?”. That’s all I was thinking. I looked it up and it turned out to be Riccardo Tisci. It was part of his Givenchy 2012 menswear. I was like, “this is crazy”. And I just started doing a lot of research on Riccardo. I was looking up what Givenchy was and I saw that it was in the same playing field as Louis Vuitton, Gucci etc. and I started finding out about these expensive high end brands. I just fell in love with the whole concept of a runway as well. I kept thinking, as a 12 year old, “why was Kanye wearing it?”
I just want to support my work and ideas off clothes, you know? And that’s just always how I’ve thought.
What point did you realize you wanted to make a living as a designer?
I don’t think there was really a point where I decided to make a living as a designer, you know? I didn’t really have the option to go to college. Actually, it’s a funny story. I applied to a college called the Art Institute in LA and a week later the school went bankrupt. So I took [it] as a sign from the universe and realized I didn’t really need school so I decided I really had to do something with fashion for real. The jobs I worked before [were] making sandwiches at Jersey Mikes, fucking working at Amazon. I knew working for a company in general wasn’t for me. I’d tell my mom, my cousin Tommy all the time, “I can’t do this shit fuck this”. And walked out of the job, like I just wanted to make clothes. I just want to support my work and ideas off clothes, you know? And that’s just always how I’ve thought.
You just dropped Season 6, which we’ll get to in a minute. How long have you been building your brand?
I started my brand around 2016-2017. My first 20 hoodies my cousin T, Tommy, actually purchased them for me. Fronted me 600 bucks, realest shit ever. I told him, “yo I wanna start making some clothes”. He was like, “bet”, no hesitation. Those hoodies changed my life forever. That was when my brand got started. We got them embroidered and I was just going to school and slinging them each for like 35 dollars a hoodie. But I didn’t really start taking it seriously till 2019. I had my first pop up. I started meeting a lot of influential people in the underground scene. 2019 was when I took it serious, but I couldn’t do much because we didn’t really have a lot funds. It just wasn’t popping like that. So 2019, 2020, & 2021 it was still real slow for the brand. I was designing but I was trying to find my concrete. My standing ground to build off of. I feel like that’s very important with every designer. You don’t want to stand on no flimsy ass foundation… you need something under your belt. It builds character having shit like that. But to answer the question I’ve been building the brand for like… shit 6-7 years.
Was there a particular piece or drop where you were like, “yo, this is it. I’m gonna make it”? What was that feeling like?
I’ve never had that feeling like, “yo this is it”, but I’ve always felt like I was going to make it. There was never a time I was doubting it. There were times I was doubtful, but I never doubted that I would not make it, you know what I’m saying? It’s kinda confusing but yea. I never had that epiphany of, “yo I’m gonna make it”...like nah, I knew.
Designing high-end clothing is an expensive process. How have you managed to fund the vision, especially as you’re transitioning into cut & sew?
I’ve always been into cut and sew. I’m not transitioning into it. I’ve been doing cut and sew since 2019-2020. Around that time I was doing a lot of cut and sew pieces. But funding my vision, you know, was just dropping and being able to save money. I’ve had an amazing team. I’ve had T, he’s funded me plenty of times. Also have had Mike help me when I needed it, and my pops who I love very much has helped me, strictly off the fact I was following my dreams. I’ve just had a great team you know? It just always works out. We good now.
You seem to have this niche and very loyal customer base. What has your audience growth looked like over the years and how do you attract new customers?
Shout out the fans man. Shout out everybody who fucks with me for real. Shout out everybody who really appreciates me as a designer, and appreciates my pieces. That means the world.
I think people relate to it because they’ve seen the work and progress. Because it wasn’t always like this. For example, I always wanted to do an interview, but the demand for it wasn’t that high, you know, nobody wanted my shit at the time. Again that builds character and we here now.
The audience growth has been crazy over the years. You ask anybody around me they be like, “yo this a lot of people”, because nobody gave a fuck damn near a year and a half ago haha. You get what I’m saying? It grows every day and I’m very grateful for everybody who’s here, everybody who’s about to be here, and everybody who’s supporting me constantly. Everyone who’s helping me bring my vision to life every single day cause this shit means a lot to me so…yea.
True art and design is about communicating your vision with the world. How do you approach your design process in terms of going from some abstract concept to something you feel is ready to release?
I communicate my vision with the world solely based off of how I feel at the time. For example, what I do for my clothes. I basically just do white, black, and red colorways. I use those as my base. White is when I feel happy. Black is when I feel kinda like I don’t want to talk to anybody. And red is when I feel mad. So I essentially just go based off of those. The ideas I have just come as I live. I just live life for inspiration. Every day. I take the simple things in life. I see a cloud and I’m like, “yo I see a meteorite in that cloud”, or my brother sends me an old anime or cartoon we used to watch and I’m like, “yo that fit is hard”. I just take inspiration from everything else.
When something's ready to release I feel um… you just know. If you’re a designer and you’re reading this you just know when something's ready. I can’t explain that feeling. You’re just like, “yo I need to release this into the world.”
You’ve released under your own signature, Jason Demaci, as well as the label TWO THOUSUND. What’s your thought behind having the two separate labels and do you have plans to merge them eventually?
Jason Demaci is basically a high end luxury brand that I plan to take global and actually make it a household name. Make it known / respected in the “elite” fashion world. That’s that. And TWOTHOUSUND is an affordable luxury street wear brand. That’s what separates the two. And no I don’t plan on merging them. I mean, there’s a little bit of Jason Demaci in TWOTHOUSUND because I’m designing it anyway.
The Jason Demaci Signature Boot is absolute fire by the way, if you ever restock the white I need a pair.
Yea I appreciate that bro. A lot of people are asking for those to be restocked. But you know, we got to think about it. Hopefully in the future we see a restock.
Let’s talk about Season 6. The collection is very well-curated. Was there a natural evolution to get here or did you go into this with all of the pieces already in mind?
Usually a collection comes over a couple months. I come up with one piece and then the piece is super crazy and I’m like, “okay I like this a lot”. This is the first collection where I went with a theme which is the thorns. I feel like that’s why it connected so well and it worked so well with each other. At first I designed the bomber, and then I got the idea to make the thorn distressed denims. From there I just wanted to make a beanie as well. I used to think of thorns as corny with roses and shit. I wanted to find a balance and a way to make thorns cool as fuck to wear. I feel like I hit right on target. And you know I’m happy as hell that it connected with the world man. This shit mean everything.
Thorns can be tough to pull off, but I think you definitely struck that balance you were going for. What has the response been like?
The response has been amazing. It actually still blows my mind. Everyday someone else is telling me how I inspire them, and it’s like, man. No words for real.
How does it feel to have your pieces sell out in a matter of days?
Man. Again it feels unreal. I used to dream of shit like this. It feels unreal because I’m living proof of never giving up. You know? I used to want this so bad. I used to wish and pray that my shit would sell out. So selling out in a matter of days I just feel grateful. But I remind myself everyday we just gotta keep working.
What was the biggest challenge in developing Season 6? Anything you had to edit or dial back?
Fuck no. We ain’t dialing nothing back man. Nothing is too much. Nothing. In the past somebody would have told me, “having leather thorn patches all over the jacket is too much”. Is it really though? Like, who are we to decide when somethings too much? It all depends on the factors you have, the elements in the garment, but nah there was nothing to dial back with this collection. The biggest challenge honestly was finding a way to make that jacket because that jacket was the hardest thing to make.
Your business approach is to take orders before going into production, which seems increasingly common these days. Do you feel any pressure following a drop to ensure production goes smoothly? How involved are you in that process?
No, I don’t feel any pressure because before hand, I order samples and I speak to the manufacturers. I have personal connections with all of my manufacturers. We come to an understanding of each other. I let them know what’s going to happen and I let them know how it’s going to go. I basically prepare them mentally and business wise for my drop. I make sure that everything will go smoothly. I ask them a lot of questions haha. I ask them so many questions. You guys would be like, “damn”. I’m very involved in that process also. I’m the one speaking to them. So it’s me 100%.
What’s your favorite piece from Season 6?
Sssss. Aw bruh. That’s a hard question. I love all of it. I don’t have a favorite piece, but if I had to choose it would be the black denims and the black bombers. Those shits are crazy for real.
Let’s talk about the future for Jason Demaci and TWO THOUSUND. Season 6 is finished, can you talk about what you’re working on next?
Uh, I can’t really speak on what’s next. For now I’m enjoying Season 6. But what I can say is that there’s so much on the way. I’m very excited to share my new projects with the world and grateful to have everyone joining me on this journey.
What’s the next major milestone you want to hit with your brand?
Honestly with TWOTHOUSUND, the next major milestone is just becoming one of the biggest brands in the world. You know? Without hurting the brands reputation like we not on no sell out shit. This is gonna be the biggest brand in the world all from being true to myself, being [true] to the craft, and being true to the art. Being true to why I started. So the next major milestone is that. Being able to have a warehouse, a factory. Being able to support my family off of clothes.
Is there anything else you want to add or say, shoutouts to anyone?
I just want to say I appreciate everybody that is supporting me. That is showing constant love. That shit means the world to me. I wouldn’t be able to do what I do without the people's support.
Shout out to Tommy. Shout out to my manager Mike Molly, greatest manager of all time. My brothers, my sisters. Shout out my mom, my pops, my whole family man. I’m very grateful. Hopefully when people come back to this interview and read this like in 2-3 years, they’re going to realize how far it’s gone.
Oh! And let me add to the milestone. I just said the milestone for TWOTHOUSUND. The Jason Demaci milestone. Man! I want that shit to have runways every season. I plan on having stores on Rodeo, Paris, Tokyo, Milan, London. I want very big high end retail stores, runways. I want it to become one of the biggest household brands in the world bro. It’s gonna get to a point where LVMH is going to try and buy Jason Demaci out. I plan on taking Jason Demaci to the next level. The brand is bigger than me. It’s my name, but I plan on making it live on even after I’m gone. I plan on making it live on to inspire future generations like a kid that’s being born today. In 18 years they'll be like, “yo I want to be creative director for Jason Demaci”. That’s literally how I feel about Louis Vuitton.
So. You know I just plan on inspiring and I plan on changing the world one day at a time through clothes, which is a beautiful thing. So I appreciate this.
I also want the kids out there just like me to know anything is possible. If you plan on designing, or painting, or doing anything creative I was in the same place as you, not knowing what to do or where to start. The most important step is to get started, it’s never too late. & fuck what anybody has to say about your dreams, a lot of people are going to doubt you and tell you your dreams are “unrealistic”, but it’s up to you to listen to them or not. If I listened to those types of people I wouldn’t be here doing an interview for y’all today.
So keep going, love y’all and talk soon 🖤
You can shop Season 6 online at TWOTHOUSUND.COM if you're lucky enough to find your size still in stock. Follow Jason on IG for more.
Lastly, thank you to Jason for responding to my request for this interview and taking the time to answer these questions.
MAG X (by) SAM RAPAPORT is an online Design and Development magazine. Created and written by Sam Rapaport, the magazine highlights the latest across the two pillars of design and development with a focus on fashion and creative software, respectively.
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