“I’ve done every part of it myself. You don’t need anyone to help you. That’s the essential message,” Jagger Walk told me when I met him on the street corner to hear about his fashion business. He’s 17. Spoken like a true teenager. To a 50-year-old.

And as I coiled up ready to heap a pile of cynicism on his whole scheme, he disarmed me again with this line: “The 50-year-old person was making hoodies for the 17-year-old person, and I thought it was time for the 17-year-old to make a hoodie for the 17-year-old.”

I concede.

This is the schmatte business of our era – or maybe I should say *their* era. You don’t need a label or a department store or a big marketing operation as long as you have the idea and the gumption, social media and an audience. Being young and savvy helps. Jagger, a native Tribecan who goes to Elizabeth Irwin High School, came up with the idea in French class, naming it Runaway as in “escape from your comfort zone.” He market-tested his threads with his old friends from PS 234. He then applied it to a school project (the kids there spend a semester working on an independent study of some kind). He made 250 hoodies for the first drop. They sold out.

Jagger has the streetwear line – hoodies, hats, T-shirts, shorts – but there’s also a creative collective behind the label that allows him and his friends to explore other projects like recording music. The idea is they can always just hang out, but why not do something while they are hanging out? Like make a record? Or design a logo? “We got used to going to the fields and going to Shake Shack. I found myself surrounded by some of the most creative people and they just went back to their room to hang out.” No more. Plus, he says, the project has been great for all his friendships, and the kids have met some cool people along the way.

His spring line is coming in now. Watch for it on a street near you.
https://runawaynewyork.com/