Looking Stupid: How we doing man, does now still work?
Jordan Page: Yo yeah!
LS: Nice, how have you been? You just did a drop last week, correct?
JP: I’ve been good! I was loving the warm weather after our multiple blizzards but now we’re back with icy rain today. And yes the drop was last Tuesday. March 3rd
LS: Why exactly did you start making clothes and what’s the thought process behind drops, since you’re functioning outside of the traditional retail seasons?
JP: Colour Plus started almost exactly 6 years ago as a pet project to get some ideas for graphics out there but I’ve been working on & off with other brands, making things for a little over a decade now. I do function out of traditional seasons for multiple reasons. Because I do other work, I like to reserve Colour Plus Co. releases for when I have the time, inspiration & financial resources. Sometimes all of those things don’t align & it’ll be the better part of a year before I release something. Regarding my thought process, I’m primarily inspired by academia in art. A lot of my graphics are motivated by color theory/theorists. But I’m also inspired by my experience at an HBCU as well as subcultures I’m apart of & adjacent to
LS: I think your experience at NC A&T is a part of knowing you in real life for sure, how does it find its way into your graphic work? You do image sourcing for some heavy hitters, what percentage of ground floor research for CP comes up during that process? Or is it all coming out of one spout with different pipelines
JP: A&T provided creative stimulation in a few ways. It was my first exposure to other young black people that were from different parts of the country that had drastically different styles. Namely DC, Philly, NYC, LA, & The Bay Area. There were so many homegrown brands from each area that made their way to this random college campus in Greensboro, North Carolina & a lot of my graphic work can be inspired by those brands. Something as simple as a color story from a Miskeen shirt a friend of mine wore.
Honestly I don’t do image sourcing in the way that I’ve done for other brands. I guess because in a sense I’m not looking at the same things I would when I didn’t design research for Supreme. As mentioned my inspiration is heavily academic based so I’m pulling images from artists like Faith Ringgold & color theorists like Emily Vanderpoel
And not a rare Ralph Lauren pieces from the 80’s & 90’s
LS: So there’s more color story and textural considerations than what might be coming up around the bend of the cultural zeitgeist?
JP: Exactly
LS: The regional distinctions in style must have been more striking back then
JP: They definitely were. The internet really leveled regional culture in a lot of ways. There was a time where I could spot & differentiate some from the aforementioned areas with ease. Especially the DC kids. I don’t know if that’s as easily done now.
LS: I feel like there’s been a real flattening in the algorithm. You started the account @veryadvanced a long time ago in internet years. How have you seen the algorithm ebb and flow with regard to what it rewards? How has it changed your approach in your own projects and how you see the exchange of imagery on the whole?
JP: What the algorithm rewards varies I suppose. I do see the more basic & less contextual content a lot more than I used to but there are some accounts out there with a more critical voice & eye that I see shining through all of the horse pucky
I must confess, I post on very advanced a lot less these days because of my own shifted focus to Colour Plus, but there’s also some jadedness there. I saw a lot of accounts that would post content that I unearthed through my research with eerily close verbiage to mine & they would get a lot more shine, more press, more brand deals & I felt taken advantage of. I’ve considered moving things to substack but the motivation, for some reason, is low to do that.
LS: I think the realization that the platforms themselves can shift underneath your feet is an added mood dampener on top of biters, who are to be expected.
You were initially just posting for fun right? I apologize for asking more but I’m kinda fascinated how things like that are built. How did it evolve over time and what eventually steered you more towards music and design?
Was it a more important outlet when you did more event production?
JP: I started very advanced with no clear goal other than posting things that I thrifted when I was big into that community. And then if I knew a cool story about a piece I posted or had a personal connection to it I would share that & then that turned into me just generally discussing pop culture as it related to fashion.
I never really connected my content page with my event production work much to be honest. When I was DJing an event for Nike or The North Face I would make a connection because that naturally made more sense to me. I still do that from time to time.
LS: Oh, I meant that your production work might have left you wanting more creative outlets, before your were djing and producing clothing more regularly
JP: Definitely! I’ve worked with some amazing people over the years at brands that I really respect but I was never on the brand creative side of things. Only on the “work horse” agency producer side. Which I still do enjoy but when that was my only professional role in life it left me wanting a lot more.
LS: You spend a lot of time and work on “third spaces” on a lot of different levels. With all the hand wringing about people feeling disconnected and out of sorts, what do you see as potential …not solutions but you know, do you see anything people could immediately start working towards to improve public life?
JP: People need to get used to being perceived outside of social media again for third spaces to be a thing. I think that too many people are afraid to be “regulars” & find it embarrassing because they don’t want others to know their routines. So yeah get comfortable with sitting beside a stranger or your coffee barista knowing your name & order. This kind of familiarity in communities used to be a badge of honor but now it’s seen as a personality defect. It’s weird
LS: Getting back to your current projects, you’ve been making shoes for Saucony and Top Sider, how did that come about, and what have your inspiration to end product processes looked like? It seems like a great place to speak to texture and color study
JP: Working with Saucony & Sperry were both a dream come true. My relationship with Saucony came about through my good friend Fab Amorim who was working in partnering brands with small creators at the time. He linked me with Jason Faustino over Saucony & the rest is history. The Sperry collab came about after a chance meeting with Steve DiCecco at a Beams boat party during Men’s Fashion Week in Paris Summer 2023. I’ve been so lucky to work with both brands. They both took a chance on working with me & my small company. I’m forever grateful for that.
LS: Adding on to this, are there shoes in your young life that stick out to you still? I feel like sneakers were such a cool way to interact with industrial design at one point.
I love Air Max 95s, 98s & 03s. A number of ACGs. Too many to mention in fact & the Adidas Feet You Wear line. I actually got to work on a pair of Saucony’s I wanted back in the day. The Grid Shadow 2.
LS: What does your creative process look like when you’re working on footwear?
JP: Going back to shoe design. There’s no one process. The ones I landed on were different inspos at different times in my life. Everything from fawns, to sailing to visuals of prehistoric times in media have served as inspiration for a few of my collaborations
LS: Not to make it a teachable moment but could you refer to an image that inspired you?
it can feel like we are in this silly loop alternating photos of Denzel at the airport flicks and Robin Williams in Issey. How do you beat the loop and stay inspired? What’s your visual well?
JP: I can’t think of a specific image that still actively inspires me but i tend to be captivated by images that are unique & tell a story. If it’s a celebrity in some cool clothing, I like to figure out what they’re wearing & why they’re wearing it. Once you find that out the photo becomes a lot more inspiring. I suppose I beat the loop by continuing to research. looking for things that haven’t been circulated to death
LS: Doubling back on what we were talking about with third spaces, Not wanting other people to know your routine is such an interesting stipulation. Before phones it was helpful so people could (or couldn’t) find you.
Accounts for a lot of anxiety since people need routine
JP: That’s a good question. I think caring about the small details of people’s lives is maybe how you teach yourself or become interested in small talk. I never understood people who needed every conversation to be “deep” out the gate & besides you can’t go deeper without hitting the surface first
LS: I think most people that start in deep convo mode tend to come off crazy in real life circumstances too. There’s an aversion to discomfort but then complaints about something thats safe and hard to hurt you, like talking about the weather or whatever
JP: agreed. immediately going “deep” can be over sharing which is something a lot of people also complain about. No one knows what they actually want or like lol
LS: I think we both share concerns about all sorts of things, human interaction, recycled ideas, whatever. What are some things that have been exciting you recently? How about things you’ve noticed over the past 5 years that are more exciting than shitty?
JP: in the creative space it’s been exciting, maybe more relieving, to see trend cycles slow down. Whether it’s fashion, food, art, music, we collectively were rushing through things & over consuming, not letting moments land & to me it seems people are slowing down & actually enjoying art again. people are contextualizing & philosophizing. connoisseurship is coming back.
over the past 5 years, & this isn’t directly related to art, but it’s been exciting to see people wake up & gain some awareness. critical thinking is up… at least in my circle
LS: In what ways do you think things are slowing down? In which directions?
JP: I think people are decidedly taking more time consuming things. or at least it seems. content format is becoming longer again. people are waiting longer to review music. i think people want to become patient again & slowing down is apart of that
LS: Being broke is making us contemplative 😂
Do you see this awareness as something that is sticky? Something that could spread, or something you see outside your immediate circle
JP: I certainly hope so. I do see it outside of my immediate circle. I think world events of the last half decade have made a lot of people self teach about geopolitics & in turn has made a lot of us gain more of a conscious
LS: What are you more immediate creative goals with colour plus and what are some of the longer goals?
JP: My more immediate goal is just to do a few more drops a year. I want to be more consistent but still not do a rigid seasonal schedule. Long term, I’d like to secure some funding/investments so I can really put some of my bigger ideas out in the world. i don’t want c. plus to be some huge brand making 1000s of pieces of clothing but i would like to operate at 2-3x’s the scale i do now
LS: what are the ideas and music banging around in your head that will shape the work you’re envisioning for the next while?
JP: As far as ideas go I think my work will continue to be shaped by art & nature. I think the idea of critical thought will be important for my work moving forward too. thinking & loving in a way that leads to self liberation. I’m not exactly sure what this means yet but it’s something bubbling within that I wish to express. As far as music goes, in the past, the music that has informed my work has always been music that either decompresses me or gets me to think so a lot of old school hiphop, classic house, punk rock/new wave