As the son of superstar manager Jason Weinberg, Jasper Johnson-Weinberg clearly is headed for the limelight and has talent in spades with his line, Overt, launched in collaboration with Blue&Cream on the bowery and in East Hampton. We polled the East Hampton-based father and son for the story behind the brand.
Jasper Johnson-Weinberg and his business partner Bryce Lorenzo
JASPER:
What inspired you to launch the clothing line? I always had a liking for fashion and the arts since a very young age, but I didn’t know how I could use my passion. When I was around 10, I was given a school project where we had to write an essay about what industries were negatively affecting the Earth’s environment. Most of my classmates wrote about the transportation industry or the agricultural industry, but I wrote about the fashion industry. Fast fashion was extremely bad for the environment, yet no one paid attention to it. As I grew older, I also learned about gender equality, sexism, and the wrongs that the LGBTQIA+community faces every day. Little to no fashion brands tried to be sustainable, and barely any fashion brands genuinely supported the LGBTQIA+ community through their clothes. I couldn’t stand watching the fashion industry be unfair to the environment and so many people. I wanted to make a change for fashion.
How do you think it fills a void in the market? What sets apart Overt from other brands is that Overt’s garments are gender neutral and sustainable. My partner, Bryce Lorenzo, and I experience New York City every day. We aren’t here to cheat our way through profit. We want to make clothes that all different kinds of people feel comfortable and confident in. The name Overt derives from the idea of doing something openly, not secretly. We chose this name because we are vocal about our opinions. If our brand can be sustainable and promote equality, then any other brand can do it too.
What do you think drives you to be such a successful entrepreneur at such a young age? The main three things that drive me to be successful are my love for the arts and fashion, keeping up with my family’s success, and building a name for my brand. Sometimes it feels like the arts are my sixth sense. Sight, touch, smell, hearing, taste and the arts. Whether it’s drawing, music, acting or fashion, I’m always thinking about art. It’s been a part of me for my entire life, and it will be for the rest of my life. When it comes to keeping up with my family’s success, I want to do great things like my parents have. I’m so proud of them. I aspire to be as kind, successful and smart as they are when I grow up. Life can get very overwhelming sometimes, but my Dads always have my back, and I will always have theirs. Building a name for my brand has always driven me to work harder. I want all types of people to walk into a store selling Overt clothing and feel comfortable and accepted for who they are. No matter how long it takes, I will turn that dream into a reality.
What else is on your bucket list to accomplish in the future?
1. To make Overt a wellknown name
2. To own our first Overt store
3. To make a viral post on @overtstreetwear
4. To have our clothes on a runway
5. To collaborate with a famous brand
Superstar manager Jason Weinberg with his son Jasper
JASON:
Please share your secret of how you raised your child to be so wonderfully driven and passionate! Merritt and I feel incredibly lucky that both Jasper and his twin brother, Harry, are thoughtful, passionate, caring young guys. With social media there is so much information and much challenge in the parenting department in addition to the already obvious. Their passions and their drive are fully of their own making and desire, and we support them as best we can. Not only did Jasper come up with Overt on his own, we didn’t know about the brand until he already secured his own distribution for the brand.
Jasper and Bryce wearing Overt.
How have you supported him on this journey? I wanted to invest, yet he and Bryce had no interest in investors. He would only let me loan him a small amount, which he was happy to repay me quickly. I think every now and then he takes a suggestion or a recommendation. Honestly, I’ve stopped offering unless he asks for my or my husband’s help…
What are you most proud of? His incredible work ethic and his social consciousness. There has been a heightened awareness of so many important issues in the world, and I am most impressed with not just how thoughtful he is about improving conditions for a better future for his generation but that he actually takes action.
What is your family looking forward to the most this season in the Hamptons? Seeing all the people that live in the neighborhood that we have mostly just emailed or spoken with on the phone that live as close as around the corner…
Photography by: Photos courtesy of brands
