This website has been known to dwell on sweatpants in some great detail. Former Aesthetics teamrider (undoubtedly one of the most fashion-forward skateboard companies ever) and our good friend, Jimmy Gorecki, recently launched a company dedicated entirely to sweatpants. So, it was only appropriate that we sat down with him to discuss this latest venture and the journey sweats have had in skateboarding.
Why’d you decide to start a sweatpants company?
I have always just really enjoyed putting on a pair of sweats with a decent pair of sneakers and a basic tee shirt. Growing up, I looked up to guys like Josh Kalis and Rob Welsh. Obviously, these guys pioneered sweats in skateboarding. Off the board though, sweats were always though part of the cultures I enjoyed most. As a teenager, I would stare at the 36 Chambers album cover. They were wearing sweats and times. That shit was next level to me.
JSP itself happened in a weird way. One day I was just messing around with Earl Sweatshirt [of Odd Future] and said “I’m Jimmy Sweatpants.” I threw it on my Twitter and didn’t think anything of it. I showed up to one of the Street Leagues and someone was just like “Why don’t you just make sweatpants? You always wear them, and it’s already sticking with the Twitter name.” I put some thought into it. In downtown L.A., you could get anything you want made, so I started doing it as a one-off thing.
Where are you at with it right now, is it like a full brand or a small thing for one-offs?
It’s a small operation for now. I have one partner, and I want to grow it as organically as possible. I would love to make it the New Era of sweatpants down the line, but obviously that’s a ultimate dream goal. After I put the first run out, there were multiple brands that reached out to me like, “We’ve been trying to do sweats domestically for a couple years and you hit the nail on the head in a couple of months.” Everyone goes to Canada or China to produce them. I don’t know if it was the right place at the right time, but we were able to source a good fleece and sample a couple different fits that were comfortable.