Albert Einstein, Alexander McQueen, and Jimi Hendrix walk into a studio. They formulate a genius band. They epitomize $cience in fashion, music, and science. Their creativity and innovation added to humanity in a way that is rare and aspirational.

What is a genius?

Genius gets thrown around a lot. There’s even a site called Genius that gives us song lyrics. Is that really genius? Of course not. People say rapper Eminem is a genius because he uses a lot of words per song. Does memorizing a thesaurus make one a genius? Kardashian husband Kanye West boasts that he is a genius. Does yelling at people to convince them what you want your legacy to be make you a genius? Seinfeld’s George Costanza made fun of a therapist for being a “delicate genius”. Does having PhDs make a nerd a genius? So what is the real deal genius? Hint: It’s not IQ.

Sometimes you just gotta say f it

Hendrix didn’t fit into the bands that wanted him to dress in pencil suits and play R&B style music. That didn’t hold him back from taking his own path to innovating a new sound. Hendrix played the guitar upside down, never took formal lessons, and didn’t have the internet.

McQueen was the son of a cab driver with no support to become a fashion designer. When he finally got hired, he was told to tone things down. That didn’t discourage him from staying true to his vision and creating a new art in fashion. McQueen didn’t have Instagram to get “inspired” by other people’s work. He learned from working with his hands.

Nobody hired Einstein after he got his PhD. He had to tutor students to save money for the baby his secret girlfriend was having. That didn’t stop him from pursuing the answers to his questions about space and time. Einstein didn’t have NIH grants, a lab at an Ivy league, or Twitter to rant about his misfortunes.

Made locally

It was important to me and the fashion designer I partnered with to make this shirt (and all my others) by local craftspersons. It was silk screen printed by hand by a small business in New York City’s Garment District. They’ve been in business for over 30 years and also made shirts for brands like Yeezy. We further paid homage to NYC by using New Amsterdam by Moondog or the Viking King of 42nd Street. Being blind didn’t stop him from making and playing instruments on the streets of NYC.

Physics is the reason light reflects off the printed area when light shines on it. Much like the glass particles in the FHOLD Atak collection designed by JAM.

This year was to be a year to reflect on the past decades and move forward. Hello COVID-19. A global pandemic may have slowed down, rearranged, or cancelled anticipated plans to conquer the world, but it hasn’t thwarted the ability to learn, create, and stay true to oneself. Imagine McQueen driving an Uber instead of draping cloth. How would music sound if Hendrix stayed in a three-piece suit? What if Einstein gave up physics when he couldn’t be a professor? Whatever your interest or talent, make it yours, don’t step on anyone to get ahead, and be original. In other words… Own It, Wear It, Be It.