Meet Jed Mitra | Apparel/Brand Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jed Mitra and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jed, do you have some perspective or insight you can share with us on the question of when someone should give up versus when they should keep going?

I think this is a very important question. Of course the initial answer should be to never give up. But a piece of advice i got early on that helped greatly in my career is this; direction is more important than speed. cause you can go nowhere FAST. I was a sports medicine major before switching over to design. I essentially had to.. give that up.

With all this, the challenge is to connect your experiences, make every move worth it. No wasted motion.
For example during those first couple weeks as a sports medicine major the homework was to learn about the foot and how to medically tape for support/injury. Fast forward to this year as a designer working lightly with footwear, the understanding of the foot and how shoes work around it has been a great plus.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am one of those creatives that see a design like problem solving. I think great design makes the most out of any particular subject. My point is to design your life around you. Everything you choose to enter your life whether it be the friends you keep, the brands you wear, how neat is your house/office, how you spend your free time, what color is the bag you use everyday. No matter how big or small your choices effect you, so make sure its solving a problem and working for you. Its not a money thing, its not a flex thing. Knowledge is free, its a design, taste, information thing which is how us creatives can get the most out of life. Design the life around you.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Number one: Coffee MCO. Cafe I co-founded. Further shoutout to Joe holding it down there. Izakaya Osen is my birthday go-to every year. They do everything right and is located on Sunset.
I would take them to the meccas Fairfax/La Brea/up to the Kith store if there’s time.
Dinner for sure somewhere in K-Town. RIP OB Bear, but most likely Eight KBBQ for the ease and BCD Tofu there as a plan b.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?

Lol don’t get me started. I come from hip-hop:

Shoutout to the family for being my highest influence, all the JM’s Javin, Jeremy, James, Jake. Jason. Kuya Rude for showing me about style and how, coming from the early 90’s not be like the minorities you see on TV.
Shoutout the Bold house for my foundation on design AND operations. GT, Vince, Helm, O.
Shoutout to my mentors at Hall of Fame, Stance Socks. Supervsn. Shoutout Moms, Dale, Jon. We made it.
Last but most important my fiance Alminda. I think you guys wrote an article about her.

Website: https://jedmitra.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jedmitra/