Since its founding in 2002, UNDEFEATED has established itself as a cornerstone in the global premium sportswear and sneaker boutique scene. Conducting a special interview with one of its founders, James Bond, we delve into his career, personality, team vision and the future trajectory of fashion and culture. Through a multidimensional conversation spanning various realms, we decipher the essence of UNDEFEATED.
The Lowdown on UNDEFEATED Vol. 1 – An interview with James Bond
“I learned the art of supply and demand at my first job—hustling at a valet parking service that my college friend started. And through my friends, the valet parking experience turned into working retail at this company called Nana in California. It was a wholesaler for Dr. Martens. That was my first real foray into the shoe business so to speak. We sold a ton of Dr. Martens. It was kind of a big gig, and we blew up and crashed all within 24 months.
Suddenly I was out of work [Laughs]. So I started working at my next door neighbor's film business. I was in the art department and I fell into films. It was a creative side of business—making sets and setting them as prop masters or set directors. I left Los Angeles, came to New York and ended up doing basically the same thing—making music videos from '94 to 2000.
I moved back to Los Angeles and opened my first clothing store called K-Bond. It was a men's haberdashery so we carried accessories, footwear, clothes, books, art, music etc. Then Jason Folton from Nike came in, liked the store and brought me to London which led to me getting Hiroshi (Fujiwara)'s Nike HTM Air Woven shoe. We sold them in multiple different colorways. From there Eddie Cruz and I partnered and evolved the idea into a dedicated sneaker store which would be UNDEFEATED. That's a quick breakdown of my path. I've always been fortunate to fall forward, not backwards."
How do you operate UNDEFEATED? What are your responsibilities?
As one of the founders, I don't have a day to day operational function anymore. After 22 years, we now have a capable staff operating UNDEFEATED, so my job is to maintain guard rails and make sure that we're staying the course that we set 20 plus years ago. Making sure we're still pointing towards our north star. So it's really just kind of keeping an eye out and being an advisor to the crew that now runs the show.
Let me ask you about your upbringing, and how you became involved in street culture.
I grew up in Philadelphia, my parents are mixed. My dad is black and my mom is white. I grew up in a predominantly black area. My dad had a clothing store in our neighborhood so music, art and fashion was always kind of in the background in our family. My mom was a nurse so we had that structure of basic normal family life but at the same time my dad was selling clothes to musicians, artists and athletes.
Just by osmosis, I was in the culture as a young kid. I was always enjoying music and sports. And fashion was more like a functional side because we played on teams and we’d constantly wear sweatpants, sneakers, gear and uniforms. So I've always been attracted to those things.
What kind of sports were you playing?
Football, wrestling, track and field. Growing up at that age, we all kind of played those sports. You always had to do something because you were bored. Back in the 70's, there were no video games or much else to do so we were always outside, playing football on the street or playing basketball after school. We were always on the move. So what I wore embodied what I was doing. I think that influences me even today.
What inspired the establishment of UNDEFEATED?
We were inspired by what we were already doing. Based on the time I was in the film business, my job embodied the lifestyle. So I was constantly working, like when I was not on set I was reading or looking at books so I was always being inspired by the work that I was doing. With UNDEFEATED, it really is a lifestyle. We already had a store. You know, my friends were there, the lifestyle was there, we loved what we were doing and were like-minded. So not only are we together at work, we're together after work—lunch, dinner, whatever.
The inspiration was that we were kind of going along with the waves of energy that were coming into this new business. And that new business model turned into what you see today. But being in the front part of it, it was all completely new. There were no rules, no rule book, so we kind of just kept on going. What inspired us was the freedom of not having a nine to five job. That led us to being able to do so much.
Regarding UNDEFEATED and your own creativity, could you tell us about the concept, goals and the mindset that you apply to your work?
The concept is being authentic to who we are as individuals. When we turn something over to our design team, there's a story but that story is always rooted in something that one of us has participated in. The design goal is to keep making authentic gear. Keep making our voices heard. Everyone has a different viewpoint, but our design goal is to be able to circle back to our north star.
What are the unique features of UNDEFEATED?
One unique feature are the individuals that work for UNDEFEATED. Everyone who works here has some sort of history with our business. For example, our design team having their own businesses, a history of working with creative people or coming from different brands will influence the art they create. Our team has always been pretty universal and most have a bit of a pedigree in the industry—from working in shops or being a part of the beginning of this business called streetwear.
Could you share your honest thoughts on the current fashion scene? Also how do you think sneaker and fashion boutiques should evolve and grow in the future?
Honestly, I think it's pretty marginal. I don't know, I don't necessarily feel like the sneaker business should participate in that high fashion piece, everything doesn't always have to blend. Also, I feel like it's easy to have the wrong people sit in the wrong seats nowadays. Although there are people who go to school and work really hard to be a fashion designer, there's often somebody who comes up from nothing and suddenly jumps the line and takes the seat because they have a lot of Instagram followers. I see that more obviously in the current fashion scene and that's where our business can easily get stuck.
Unfortunately, the last couple of years have changed our business and the landscape because of Covid. Instead of having traditional jobs, you're forced to be at home and look at screens so you’re mostly in sweatpants and sneakers. Great for us, but not for the evolution of the scene. People aren’t influenced by being around different people all the time, instead they're seeing the same curated content on social media where a lot of people look the same and dress in the same style. People just keep getting dumped on by the same styles, the same colorways. Even curious individuals can easily look the same. It's kind of homogenized.
How should the scene evolve?
I wish I had an answer for that, but I don't. I'm pretty confident with the crew we have, we'll find a way. We're in the same muck and mire as others that are trying to figure this out. And we're all drinking from the same fountain. So it's really hard to break that mentality.
Hearing that honest opinion actually sits right with many people. Now please tell us about your original apparel. Do you have specific design principles you adhere to in your design?
The original apparel line was out of necessity, because you only own half of the business. The wall of sneakers owns the other half and that's why I had to bring in products that worked with the sneakers at the time to supplement our business. Back then we hadn't really utilized our logo yet, so we did riffs on sports teams' logos on our t-shirts, sweatshirts, hats, socks or bags, whatever fit around our sport concept and the sneakers we had.
That's how we started and now it's expanded into head to toe items, four seasons a year from puffer coats all the way to tanks, underwear, socks, slides—you name it. It still falls into the sports category but has evolved to include more of what's relevant for the times. We’ll also add sports elements to non-sport pieces. For the most part, our items are functional and timeless.
How do you envision evolving and expanding your original apparel in the future?
We are in the business of commerce, so I do want to meet the needs of the consumers who want to be fashionable. Because we have a gym, there are also technical and functional needs from people coming into our training center. So we are segmented into different scenes whether it's on the street, on the field, or in the gym. We aim to keep evolving with the market.
Speaking of the gym, could you tell us about the establishment of the private gym facility "UACTP" (Undefeated Action Capabilities Training Program) in Los Angeles?
It started selfishly. I was traveling two hours to practice jiu jitsu. I was killing half my day driving plus training. So I found a spot near our office and built it. The original concept was different, it was more selection based. We were inspired by a company called Gym Jones in the United States where it was a more functional type of training with real life application, but not a lot of people train like that. They're kind of an anomaly. Then Covid forced us to dial it back. We just stayed open like a speakeasy gym for family and friends because mental health is really important for us. So it reverted back to more community based group classes and one on one training. People can still practice jiu jitsu there, but the focus has expanded to programming that focuses on functional training. We have a good crew of people working there. We'd like to bring the gym to New York City and Tokyo too.
Could you share the inspiration behind the establishment of the "UNDEFEATED FOUNDATION," along with its purpose and vision?
We've always been generous with our community. We've never really talked about it, we kept it on the low. It always feels better to do it off the strength instead of bragging about it. When we had the civil unrest in Los Angeles, we felt that doing something for one day like cleaning up the streets and feeding people was not enough. So we started a foundation to formalize the 20+ years of our philanthropic work and to create more opportunities to give-back.
I've been fortunate in my life to have been given opportunities, that's why I can sit here today and have this conversation. But not everyone gets that chance. So we've started a foundation rooted in education, nutrition and physical fitness. We help support non-profit organizations, education groups, we sponsor youth sports teams and athletes to help level the playing field. So it's really just about giving people an opportunity that they normally wouldn't get. Nike has been a big supporter of our foundation. They are able to support us when we do community projects or givebacks tied to grassroots pop-up experiences or national moments like the Superbowl.
In the brand's statement "UNDEFEATED is the future of global sport culture." What specific future are you aiming for?
The goal for the future is to continue being rooted in sports, but to take it to the next level. We're sponsoring global football clubs, motor sports and even esports events. We'd like to be worn on the field, be present on-court and more considered as a jersey sponsor. We want you to see our logo not only on the streets, but on the basketball court, football field or baseball field.
What are your thoughts on the Japanese market?
We've been in Japan for about 15 or 16 years and I’ve always found that it is very much the jump off point for the flow. Being here and coming across creative individuals and hearing their thought processes is really inspiring. I do appreciate how critical Japanese people are about certain things.
Last year after we took the brand ownership in Japan back in-house, I felt it was important to come back here and renew our reputation. We had many stores here, but the whole industry has changed over time—while we're growing as a global brand, we wanted to recalibrate the business here and make sure our stores in Japan are truly resonating with who we are. So I think having the right stores at the right locations in Japan, growing the community and our online presence is really important for us. From there, we can continue to create the UNDEFEATED culture long-term here in Japan.