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INTRODUCING: Justin Jeans
99 Plays9 months ago
Join us on Kick Your Boots Up as we meet Mike Moffitt, the Vice President/General Manager of Justin's Accessories & Apparel, and J.T. Griffin, the President of Wohali, who played a vital role in bringing Justin Jeans to fruition. Together, they discuss the significance of Justin's principles and highlight the distinctive features of Justin Jeans that distinguish them from other brands. Listen until the end to find out how to WIN BIG. For a full episode transcript, visit our website HERE.
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Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast and Special Announcement
00:00:02
Speaker
You're listening to the Kick Your Boots Up podcast, where we swap stories of the West. Whether you're just waking up or getting in for the day, come on in and kick your boots up. Well, today on the Kick Your Boots Up podcast, we interrupt your regularly scheduled programming on the podcast to have a huge announcement for Justin. We're so excited to make this announcement known.
Introducing Key Guests: JT Griffin and Mike Moffitt
00:00:23
Speaker
And before I do tell you what it is, let me just give you a little hint.
00:00:26
Speaker
Today I'm wearing this beautiful Justin Denham jacket. So hint hint, nudge nudge, you're about to learn more about the denim here. But who, none other, there's two better people, there's no better people than these two people in the room trying to just showcase what Justin Denham is all about. So first of all, I'd like to introduce you guys to JT Griffin.
The Big Reveal: Launch of Justin Jeans
00:00:46
Speaker
He's the president of Wohali.
00:00:47
Speaker
one of the faces and the brains behind Justin Jeans, as well as Justin's own Mike Moffitt, who's the Vice President and General Manager of Accessories and Apparel here at Justin. We're so honored to have these two here. They're the experts in their field, and they are going to tell you all of the fun things that are about to come. So, JT, Mike, thank you both for being here. This is going to be really, really exciting. Thanks, Taylor. Absolutely, absolutely. Thanks, Taylor.
00:01:14
Speaker
Of course, and you know I just can't help but be kept begin to be curious about how this all got started so.
Development and Brand Strategy for Justin Jeans
00:01:19
Speaker
Officially, we get to make the announcement Justin jeans are here and better than ever we're going to go through the details of the washes the sizes styles everything i'm going to learn right along with you so stay tuned.
00:01:31
Speaker
Also, I'd like you guys to know there's a huge giveaway at the end. So if you keep watching this video, learn what the giveaway is, follow the steps and be entered to win something big. So Mike, I'm going to start with you. Can you tell us about how the idea of Justin Jeans came about, how it got started? Absolutely. Absolutely, Taylor. Thank you. So, you know, the whole process of creating what you guys are seeing here has been, I would say at least a two year
00:01:58
Speaker
Two-year experience. JT and I have known each other for a long time, and we got to discussing about extending the brand into other categories. And one of the things that we talked about as a big category is a big opportunity, obviously, is the denim and denim bottoms. So we got to thinking about it, and we started studying the market. We took a look at what's out there in the Western world. Who are we competing against? Who's been out there? And obviously, there's some key players that everybody knows. But the reality of the situation is,
00:02:28
Speaker
20 years, maybe more. That's really the only choices that consumers have had for denim product in our channel of business. So we felt like the combination of that, you know, lack of newness and innovation in the category, along with the iconicness and history and heritage of our brand being 150 years old.
00:02:47
Speaker
It was a perfect marriage between the two ideas. So we started discussing this, and here's the fruits of our labor. We've got a great collection of denim, and we're looking forward to getting it out into the market. We've already got some partners that have putting the product in. They're testing the product with us. So we've got a big launch coming, and we're excited about it, absolutely.
00:03:08
Speaker
Oh, without a doubt. And JT, I want to ask you too. I know there was lots of long hours and late nights through the partnership with Justin trying to discover the best and perfect gene. So what's your perspective on how it all got started?
00:03:20
Speaker
This really, it wasn't a quick process. It was something that we took really, I mean, even before the last two years, we've been working on what we wanted to bring to the market in the Justin Gene. And so when you take something, I mean, that is a brand like Justin that's been around since 1879, I mean, denim was invented in 1860. So Justin's brand has been around for as long as basically denim has been invented.
00:03:46
Speaker
you know, we wanted to be very true to that heritage. And we also wanted to be true to the value and the consumer. I mean, right now, I mean, people are looking for something that's value and a brand they
Consumer Choices and Fit Strategies
00:03:57
Speaker
can trust. And we found that Justin, you know, hit home runs on both those points.
00:04:03
Speaker
I love that you brought the 1860 from when denim was created because that showcases the many, many trials and errors that they had to have to get where they are today. And I'm sure that there were a lot of harder parts with you guys as well, trying to figure out the perfect fit, the perfect wash and the reasons behind the formula of cotton spandex ratio. So whoever wants to go first, tell us about what you thought personally was the hardest part about discovering and interpreting and concepting the Justin jeans.
00:04:32
Speaker
Well you know what I'll start with that because I can start at the 30,000 foot level and you know JT is going to be good at getting down into the micro management of it but one of the things that was kind of a keystone I guess strategy when we started looking at this if you go out into the market I mean there's
00:04:47
Speaker
thousands of washes and there's hundreds of fits. So the first thing we wanted to try and do is really be strategic in offering the right couple of fits so the consumers could easily shop our product, get a fit, try it on, and not have too many confusing options and so forth. So we really just zeroed in on a couple of very
00:05:07
Speaker
what we believe to be core offerings of product. JT's talking about the value. I don't, JT, if you want to go ahead and drill down into how we segmented the line, because I think that's very important to the consumer for the pricing strategy. Sure. I mean, basically, the bottom line of it is, I mean, when we looked at this line from a denim perspective, I mean, we had two main focuses in it. And that was going to be in fit first and foremost. I mean, you know, if denim doesn't fit, I mean, that is, you know,
00:05:36
Speaker
You know, that's that's the rule number one. And then the next part of it is that value. I mean, we didn't want to create something with the Justin Brand that, you know, someone with a consumer is going to have to spend over $100 for. So what we did is we created a value range that, you know, our opening price point on our denim starts at 45 with our classic and goes up to 65 in our in our in our specific 1879 denim.
00:06:03
Speaker
When we talk about the fit and staying there for a minute, we offer three different fits. We offer a J1, which is more like a modern slim fit, all the way up to a J2, which gets the guy in the middle of the road.
00:06:18
Speaker
And then you've got a J9. It fits a guy that wants a looser, more relaxed fit. So when you look at it, one of my partners, I mean, he was a linebacker for OSU. And I was a baseball player. So there's two different fits that we've got going on. But I'm on the J1 spectrum, and he's on the J9 spectrum. And basically, everyone that we've had try on these jeans, we found that everyone can find a great fit. And that was very key to us.
00:06:48
Speaker
Well, you know what, JT, I'll throw in real quick because being a Western company, and I'm a J1 guy too, just like you, right, JT? So we kind of got all the different fits covered between the three of us.
00:07:00
Speaker
The J1 Fit, while it is a little slimmer and trimmer and updated, it still is wide enough at the cup opening that it will accommodate most boots. It won't necessarily cover if you got a really big 13-inch top boot, but most boots it will accommodate. And if you want to wear casuals, because a lot of guys wear casuals, even the Western guys now. So it's a perfect jean for boots as well as casuals, where you get into the J9, I think it's more of a classic boot cut kind of a jean.
00:07:29
Speaker
Oh yeah, without a doubt. And my husband personally is a J2 and he wears it probably three or four out of the five work days a week. Um, he just loves and loves them and lives in them and can wear them with his still toe work boots, but also the cash adjusting casuals as well. So very, very well-rounded all around
Behind-the-Scenes Stories and Collaboration Insights
00:07:46
Speaker
Jean. And that's why I'm so proud to be here for this announcement because, um, you can tell the amount of time you guys have put into it, but I feel like you had to have some fun along the way. What's your favorite memory?
00:07:57
Speaker
from the very beginning of conception for Justin Jeans till now. Is there anything fun that you guys remember that comes to mind? Mike, we'll start with you. Yeah, sure. Several, to be honest with you, but one of the things, and we were kind of chit-chatting about earlier, is when we started working with these guys, forget about the product. I mean, the product, we obviously put a lot of thought, a lot of time and energy into every little rivet and detail and stitch that goes into this product. But when we first partnered with these guys,
00:08:26
Speaker
We have several people we work with. From my position, I work with lots of different licensees and people that do different products for us. But one of the things that just warmed my heart, and it was still to this day, I think about it, I get emotional, the guys at Waha'i came in and presented to us their vision for our brand. It was a top to top meeting, all the executives were in a room, and the amount of passion and enthusiasm that they
00:08:53
Speaker
Displayed I felt like they understood the brand as good as John Justin could have been standing right here next to us so it's just a heartwarming relationship we have with these guys and I Hopefully we the sky's the limit as we go down the road
00:09:09
Speaker
appreciate it. And we've r process as well. I think t stands out my mind the mo had to hurry up and get t process though, Mike, beca donuts in the mornings,
00:09:28
Speaker
Those are some great early morning donut meetings. I don't want to even think about how many carbs we consumed in those early days.
Denim Styles, Quality, and Future Plans
00:09:40
Speaker
One thing I want to give a moment for is the Thanksgiving turkey sandwich.
00:09:46
Speaker
Yeah, so I was up in Oklahoma with at their corporate office and we were having a think tank man swatches all over the table pieces of fabric stitches pocket stitches and you know time gets away from me right and it's getting into lunch hour and JT says hey man you guys want to take a break for lunch and I said yeah sure what do you got he goes hey I got the perfect lunch for you there's a little sub shop down
00:10:07
Speaker
the street that we order from, and it's called Thanksgiving on a Sub. And I'm like, what is that? And so I tried it. So basically it's turkey, dressing, and cranberry sauce all jammed on a sub sandwich. And it was an experience, right? It's making me hungry right now. That sounds delicious. Yeah, it was crazy. Yeah, it was fun. It was fun.
00:10:29
Speaker
Well, I love to hear about the fun parts of it all. And that's what Justin is all about. And especially this podcast here is telling the stories behind everything and kind of moving on to the more meats and bones of this whole podcast is, um, the quality of the denim and the washes and the fits and all the different, I mean, sizes, you guys have paid every detail forward. So Mike, if you don't mind, will you give us the rundown on the overall quality wash fit of the Justin jeans?
00:10:56
Speaker
Absolutely, so the easy way to describe it, there's three components to our line. And JT, if I miss an actual technical fabric construction, please jump in. But to start the whole collection, the core piece of our line is called Justin Classics. It's this rigid, unwashed denim. All the Western guys know exactly what I'm talking about when I say rigid, unwashed denim. It's the kind of jean you starch it up and you just go set it in the corner of your bedroom and it stands up all by itself. This fabric does that. But the interesting thing about it,
00:11:26
Speaker
is the younger hipsters have really started to gravitate towards this rigid unwashed denim because it's got a cool industrial look, you can cuff it and do some fun things. So this is our opening price point of $45, rigid unwashed denim. The next, and it's, oh, let me back up, sorry, it's 99 cotton, 1% spandex. Everything we do has got a little bit of spandex in it, which,
00:11:48
Speaker
It's interesting, not to get off track, but I was in California going to visit Boot Barn probably 10 years ago before we ever thought about this and I went into a store and there was a pair of jeans there for men and they had spandex and I thought, that's kind of weird. So I tried them on and I have never gone back. I will not wear a pair of jeans without spandex in them because this just makes such a difference. So everything we do has got some spandex in it for stretch.
00:12:12
Speaker
The next piece of the puzzle is the originals, Justin Originals, which is the same fabric construction. It's 99 cotton, 1% spandex, but it's washed, so it's got a much softer hand, very comfortable. There's two washes, there's a light and medium wash here, and this jean is just a great everyday, you know,
00:12:34
Speaker
core piece to wear. Then you move over to our 1879, which is our, I'd say it's our good, better, best. It's the best piece that we offer. It's a $65 retail. It's a cotton poly spandex blend. And JT, you might want to go into what that means because it definitely adds a work potential element to it.
00:12:53
Speaker
Sure. I mean, you know, w you know, we can get int the testing and give the there. And that'll be on but this fabric is actua as your traditional cotton was the whole, you know, the guy, you know, could g He could go to, uh, you kn afterwards in or he could in. And so, you know, th of does that all. I mean, and you see that in the h
00:13:23
Speaker
In a lot of 99 in spandex, cotton-rich fabrics, you have stretch, but you don't have recovered. By adding the polyester into this, into the mix, it gave us the recovery into the fabric. What you're going to find is that, hey, you can go out and you can work in this all day long and it's not going to be stretched out. That's huge for guys that are
00:13:48
Speaker
or needing the stretch, but they're also not wanting to, at the end of the day, you know, have to hike their pants up all day long. So, you know, that was a key element to the 1879 denim, and just kind of point this out, Mike. You know, the call-outs in the tags that you see, like you go from the left to the right, you have the black, you know, the classic, you know, call-out there, and then you have the original, which is a different pocket flasher, and then you have the 1879
00:14:19
Speaker
pocket flasher to make it very easy for the customer to recognize, you know, the differences in the each into the denim because a lot of times when you go in, you look at a denim wall, you're just people are overwhelmed like, what do I go by? So we've tried to make it easier to identify, you know, what it is that the customer is going there looking for. I'm going in looking for this rigid unwashed piece over here. Okay, well, that's, you know, it's my black.
00:14:41
Speaker
you know, pocket flasher in my Justin Classics. Am I looking for, you know, just a great value and price point? That would be your Justin Originals. But if I'm looking for, you know, our top of the line, a work pan, something that's going to be our workhorse, I mean, a meat potato of our line is going to be 1879 Gene, which is, you know, called out by that different pocket flasher.
00:15:03
Speaker
Yeah, you know, that's a good, so, and kind of getting back to where we were before, just from an architectural perspective of how we laid the line out, Taylor, to JT's point, I mean, we've got very clear messaging to the consumer. But again, we also, from a fit perspective, we're very strategic in what we did. So we didn't want to overwhelm the consumer, but we wanted to have the right couple of two or three fits that we felt covered, you know, 99.9% of the body's out there. And so far, everything that we've done, we've done,
00:15:30
Speaker
hundreds of focus groups, fit tests, fit trials. Everyone walking around this office for the most part's got a pair of jeans on. And I think we came in right on spot on as far as, you know, fitting everybody. So we're excited about that for sure. And those fits there too, Mike, are called out not only in the differences of the J1, the J2, and the J9, but they're color-coded with a different color code on each one of those. Right.
00:15:57
Speaker
to kind of make that a call out as well. Because again, you know, it can get very confusing when you're looking at denims. I mean, and everyone really has to, you know, try one on to see which one they like the best, but at least it's going to allow you to, you know, get in the right zone of where, you know, where you want to be before you go and try that pair on. Yep, absolutely. Absolutely.
00:16:18
Speaker
Definitely and maybe one day we can do a try on video or a try on guide to help people understand The different fits but I will say you guys have done an incredible job and I want to tip my imaginary hat to you guys because You have truly covered every body type every personal preference every style every
00:16:40
Speaker
just genre of work. People can wear the same jeans all day to work in and then clean up a little bit and wear them at night too if they wanted. So I commend you guys. The attention to detail is immaculate. So I personally am excited to see everyone else out there start wearing them and tagging us in their stuff because it is going to be monumental. The things that they are going to be able to do in their Justin jeans. So thank you again for that.
00:17:05
Speaker
guys and kind of moving on to like a heartstrings part my favorite part personally because the speaking of the detail the detail on these jeans goes far beyond the just construction you guys have thought of every single piece that goes on these jeans and more particularly the pockets the rivets so right now I just want to have the opportunity to ask you guys what makes this gene or these jeans different from all the rest with the attention to detail that you guys added throughout so Mike
00:17:34
Speaker
Do you want to give it a shot? Absolutely. JT, I got a prop sample here so I can take everyone through all of the thinking that we did. In fact, I'm going to use this one because the pocket flasher is taken off of it. So to start from this, hopefully you guys can see this in the camera. Is this good enough?
00:17:51
Speaker
So every Justin Jean that we do, everyone knows Justin Big Red Jay. The Big Red Jay is our stop sign in the market, so people recognize it. So every Justin Jean's going to have a red rivet in the corner of the coin pocket, which will pay homage to our history and heritage. The waistband is a really cool distressed, the waistband is a really cool distressed
00:18:19
Speaker
kind of a tea cloth almost we call it. So it's just got a really neat vintagey kind of feel to it. The buttons embossed with Justin. Every rivet, even if it's not red, is a custom Justin rivet. And this is kind of neat. This is a little show and tell. Nobody really thinks about it, but it's just something when you put on a pair of jeans, you go, that's cool. So all of the pocket bags on the inside have got our standard of the West call out, which is kind of cool, right? It's something that you don't see, but when you try it on, you look at that and you go, that's kind of cool. Then if you flip around to the back of the jean,
00:18:47
Speaker
Another subtle call out is the red bar tack on the center of the back belt loop. You can see it coming and going. You'll see the red jay, the red color. And then there's a little woven Justin logo on the outside of the pocket. So we've really tried to be deliberate in what we're doing, but tasteful.
00:19:12
Speaker
give the consumer a chance to really know that these weren't Justins. And then you've got, of course, obviously your big leather patch that says Justin on it. So, you know, I think we did a good job. Now, if it's okay, Jay Tim, take one more minute to talk about the pockets, because this is another interesting thing, Taylor.
00:19:29
Speaker
When you talk about eating a lot of donuts and late nights and talking about this, this project right here is ongoing. And it's one of those things that is a complex mathematical calculation. So because Justin is an every man's brand and because we're really pushing the value, we thought we would try and keep that part of it simple because the male consumer may
00:19:53
Speaker
look at a crazy design on a pocket and not buy it because of that, but really the average guy's probably not going to have an issue if it's a little bit more simplistic. So on our classics and our originals, we just opted for less is more clean, great looking jean with a nice pocket treatment. For our 1879,
00:20:12
Speaker
We dressed it up a little bit. I'll try and fold this back with just a nice heavy whip stitch going across the pocket and a little bean stitch there in the middle to give it a little bit of a visual texture to it. But I will tell you, as far as your audience is concerned, I'm certainly taking any kind of
00:20:31
Speaker
Ideas, so if some people out there go, hey, a Justin pocket stitch should look like this, send it in, because we're still trying to look beyond where we are now as to what could make sense for us. And I do know you guys have some things in the works for the future. I know moving forward to women and the future there. And so, yeah, we're open to any and all suggestions on the pocket art. That would be really cool. If you do have an awesome idea, go ahead and just DMS on social media and maybe you'll get a shot of having a chance of your pockets.
00:21:01
Speaker
on the Justin jeans in the future. Mike, I really appreciate you taking the time to share with us the story part because personally that means so much to me. I know a lot of people out there, anyone who puts their foot into a Justin boot, they step into a story, a legacy. They just change their aura altogether. They get to be a part of the history. The red rivet really means a lot to me. Then the standard of the West pocket, I love that.
00:21:30
Speaker
And ladies, let's be honest, I definitely love looking at the little red bar tag every day when my husband walks out the door to leave for work. So ladies, there's something there for you too, right? Yeah. And JT, I want to say thank you to you as well. And for the futuristic really quick, what do you see in the future? I know we have a lot of things in the works with apparel. So maybe let's just briefly on the spot, talk about a few little things we're working on.
00:21:58
Speaker
Absolutely. Well, you mentioned it right there from a lady's perspective. That is one that was right in the middle of the works right now. And so I think right around the corner sometime in late December, early January, you could be seeing the first pieces of the ladies down start emerging into the market, if you will. So just as you said earlier, hey, send designs in. Send some ideas in.
00:22:27
Speaker
Hey you might be inspired and the next thing you know you may have your pocket design on the on the back of a Justin ladies jean so there's we like inspiration from everywhere I mean anything that we're doing from a design standpoint we have an incredible design our design development office is
00:22:45
Speaker
just around the corner from the Justin offices in Arlington. So that's worked really well with us being able to work hand in hand with Justin in developing all of this.
Where to Buy and Podcast Wrap-Up
00:23:00
Speaker
And for the ladies line, I think there's going to be something very special as kids as well. So our goal was to bring something to the entire family. And by 2024, our hope is to have that.
00:23:12
Speaker
And shirts are earlier on the way for men, so maybe that's the next podcast, right?
00:23:18
Speaker
Oh yeah. And you guys heard it here first. I mean, there's lots in the work, so you're going to want to stay engaged. You're going to want to stay tuned. Be sure and follow our social media is constantly for new updates, but I will say you can get your own pair of Justin jeans by visiting our website at www.justinboots.com. Go ahead and click through. You'll be able to find your size, style, wash, all of it. We'd love to hear your feedback too. Be sure and leave us a review once you purchase your jeans.
00:23:44
Speaker
And okay, I think it's time you guys to announce the giveaway, don't you?
00:23:48
Speaker
Yes, absolutely. So because you've watched the video all the way till the end, congratulations for making it this far. We're going to give away five free pair of Justin jeans. So you'll have early access, your own opportunity to get your hands on some Justin jeans. All you have to do is follow the podcast on whatever platform you're listening to, Apple, Spotify, Google, iHeartRadio, YouTube, follow us. Make sure you're following along and click the link in our description.
00:24:16
Speaker
After that, you'll be able to answer a few questions on a JOT form. And of course, we're just asking for your information so we can be able to send you those genes. So go ahead, click through those, and you'll be on the list to have an opportunity to get your own free pair of Justin genes to be able to give us your own feedback.
00:24:33
Speaker
I just want to say thank you for listening. If you've made it this far, congratulations. We appreciate it. Be sure to stay tuned on all of our networks to make sure that you know exactly what we're up to. JT, Mike, thank you for being here. I wish you the very best of luck and I can't wait to see you on the next podcast when we talk about all the more fun things we have going on. Thanks, Taylor. Bye-bye.
00:24:56
Speaker
Thanks for joining us on Kick Your Boots Up. I'm your host, Taylor McAdams, and we can't wait to share the next story of the West. Until then, feel free to like, subscribe, and leave us a review. Follow us on social media at Justin Boots to keep up with our next episode, and we'll see you the next time you kick your boots up.