15 CENTS: JAEFIELDS BY WOOKIE FIELDS
With its official launch party last Saturday, Jaefields showed Portland that they have a lot of great clothing coming its way. Wookie Fields is the man behind the brand, and we had the pleasure of talking to him about his brand, his life and the best sushi in town.
E+E: What is your history? School? Experience? How did you get into fashion?Wookie Fields: I grew up in the Portland area since middle school but until end of the high school, I've jumped around from school to school. That allowed me to really see diverse culture in many aspect and that's when I really picked up on shoe game and street wear. I think my first pair of Jordan's were the 10's (shadow) - from there on out, I swear I was the first one buying the 'retros'. I was about 10 or 11, and was buying Jordan 3's in white/cement and black/cement at a local store for like $35 bucks. My mom was happy to buy me the old shoes for cheap, but I loved them. I called them old school to my friends who were kind of giving me this look of 'You are poor' haha but really I loved them.
Through shoes, I broke into the whole street wear and music scene. I still remember my first Stussy shirt, and Mossimo if anyone remembers that. Slowly and gradually I moved into skate scene, punk rock, the Asian look (baggy pants, designer t-shirt and jacket) and now… just a blend of everything. I'm believer that wardrobe is something you put together, which is to say style is your own personal look.
I've always wanted to study graphic design in college but with the encouragement of my parents, I chose a technical field in math and computer science. First four years after graduation I worked at a software company specializing in social media and online algorithm.
During that time, I started my first clothing brand, which mostly consisted of graphic tees and accessories for about three years.Although Jaefields recently had our official launch party on Sept. 28, 2013, it was something I've been working on for the past year and half when I understood what I wanted to create and had a vision for.
E+E: What is your role at Jaefields?WF: My role at Jaefields is everything from fabric finding to sample productions to website to event planning… basically everything haha. It's just me. However I've got great friends who relentlessly help out for nothing really. It's tough trying to do everything yourself but there's nothing you can do when you're at a planning and sampling stage. I hope in the near future I can provide for those who've been there for me, both physically and mentally. Recently I've needed more help than ever, which has allowed me to work with various of creative minds. Through that I was able to really connect with few that I believe is essential part of the brand - Marcus Harvey, Jacob Keller, Alex Veltri, Paul Vu and Tom Bender. They all come from different background but really as a group we work really well. Within this group, we've got skills of sales, communications, styling, digital film and media.
E+E: What does a day in the life of Wookie and Jaefields look like?WF: Haha, this is a question everyone asks - I've got a day job with Energy Events as a creative director, in charge of all graphics and control the website. I have the freedom and can create my own hours, which also allows me to buy, set up meetings and do the physical labor of Jaefields throughout the day. Being already involved in creative thinking with the day job, it's really easy to switch over to the apparel side of things, which really helps me think not only about the product but the website, marketability and social media.
There are few Fridays and Saturdays where I solely focused on Jaefields. On labor intense days, it would be cutting and preparing to sew the products. I do everything by hand so it takes a bit more time so I prepare half the day to cut and day and half to put the pieces together. All the other stuff it's really when I'm really inspired to do it (website, social media, marketing) or when I need to, which seems like the case these days. There are few days where I have to think about event planning, photoshoot process, look book material, fabric research… the list goes on and on. It's hard but very rewarding to see your product on a wall and explaining the product of future customers.
E+E: Where does Jaefields get its inspiration from?WF: I get my inspirations from seeing things through media vs what I experience everyday. It's great that leather is in style, but that wouldn't be very accommodating to a place with lots of rain. I like to put pieces together and create an original piece for each season that's versatile. For our 2014 launch, we have a cardinal vest series that's coming out. Each color way has the name East, West, South and North. For example west is a Military color vest with no suede yolk or pockets but all cotton twill, just because here in the west (more of NW) we get lots of rain. The South version is a floral denim composition, which is suitable dessert, sunny winter. East is all black, think New York and North is Camo, think forrest/wilderness hunting.
This also inspires me to create pieces that are very versatile and unique. I say this because I wouldn't want someone to go into a brand flagship store and come out of the store looking just like the mannequin they have on display: head to toe in one brand. I mean if it works, it works, but I want Jaefields to be that versatile piece you can put with anything in your wardrobe.
E+E: Why Portland? What makes the NW an ideal place to start a brand?WF: There's never a better feeling when you look out the airplane window to see Mt. Hood or tall green trees or houses on a short mountain, city full of natural pasture surrounded by rivers… it's just so comforting. When you're able to love the city as much as I do, there's nothing more you want to do then to be the towner/local. What better way do you become part of the town then to establish a local business? Even coming out of high school, I never understood those wanting to get out of state for college. 
I think Portland is a great city to start a brand but also it's not that easy to start a brand either, anywhere. Portland has been great to me and I'm surrounded by very supportive and caring friends and family, which has been a blessing. There are lots of other negative side of starting a brand but if you don't look on the bright side it'll never something that's your own but rather a brand you copied to one up the another.
E+E: How do you feel about the local fashion scene?WF: Portland has a very interesting fashion scene. I think their number one goal is comfort and must be accommodating. Outdoor lifestyle is probably the biggest leisure here and it's safe to say Columbia, North Face and other outdoor apparel brands are the household names even to a fancy restaurant. North Face fleece at school, North Face fleece at a club. Which is fine because it's you and your style. However I wish to bring in more, I hate this word but, trend into the city. You can always tell who's visiting here vs a local. I'm also glad that there are those niche groups that are into variety of fashions, which also allows local boutiques like Machus, Lizzard Lounge, Compound, Communion to do their thing.
E+E: What are your favorite things to do in Portland?WF: My favorite thing to do in Portland is eating. I feel like I've been here long enough to know most of the good places to eat, but there's always something that I haven't tried.
E+E: What are your favorite places to eat in Portland?WF: My favorite place to eat in portland is… my parents house. [My mom is] an exceptional cook in variety of culinary skills. As a family we've always enjoyed eating at Ikenohana, a Japanese restaurant located in Beaverton on Murray and Allen. So, I'd say sushi is my favorite food and because of the memories I have there at the place, is my favorite place to eat.
E+E: What are your favorite shops/ brands in Portland?WF: Haha! These questions are getting harder and harder! Honestly I don't remember the last time I went shopping for myself. I think the last thing I bought was a suit back in January when I needed one for a trip and couple pair of shoes here and there. But like I said before, Portland has the unique boutiques that specializes in various style - I like to match things and create my own style, but then again with all these samples I'm making for Jaefields, most of my upper body is occupied by my own threads - I know, but hey I don't want it to go to waste.
My favorite local brand would have to be Tanner Goods and Airblaster. I've also taken lots of interest in the Adidas Originals - ADIDAS IF YOU'RE READING THIS LET'S MAKE IT HAPPEN!!!
E+E: Where do you hope to take the brand?WF: I do what I do for Jaefields because I want to. So many people ask me crazy questions: when are you gonna sell it, what happens if this and that… I love what I'm doing right now which is to create items into collections to the way I see fit. I would love for Jaefields to have longevity and also myself to create items for collections as long as possible. It would be nice to see them on displays and people walking down the street.
E+E: Anything big coming up? New releases?WF: We just launched our brands officially on the 28th of September at the Rose Lounge. We are focused on getting out 2014 fall/winter collection to variety of stores, which only consists of Portland boutiques as we are limited with our supplies.
We also have a Fast Launch for 2013 Winter, which is something Jacob, Alex and I have been rolling our ideas together. It'll consist of a weather friendly, fashionable jacket and few other items. Stay tuned!! it'll be super sweetttttt. I promise.
Check out Jaefields at http://www.jaefields.com/