November 17, 2017
My brother wrote this article, but I re-wrote it a little bit from my perspective. This is just a placeholder article until I can add more content.
Growing up, my older brother Jason was always the excitable one in the family. I still remember the day he got his LA Gears – he was out front playing with a boomerang when mom brought them out. His reaction was legendary, yelling with pure joy like that famous Nintendo 64 kid from YouTube. Mom actually made him wait until the next morning to wear them because of all the yelling, but man, was he proud when he finally got to rock those shoes.
Jason was always the collector in the family. While I was doing my own thing, he was amassing collections of basketball cards, Desert Storm cards, Hot Wheels, and yes, even Pogs – which he’ll still proudly tell you made everyone jealous. As we got older, his collecting passion evolved into sneakers while others were chasing watches and fancy cars.
Everything changed for our family in mid-2010. Jason was sitting in his apartment one Saturday, getting ready to wear these wild lemon-lime colored Nikes. Being Jason, he wanted something small to match without going overboard (though let’s be honest, those shoes were already pretty out there). He ended up at a fabric store buying elastic and paint markers to make his own wristband.
I’ll never forget when he came back to Michigan for the holidays that year, wearing this strange elastic band on his wrist. My brother Jordan and I were immediately intrigued. I remember Jordan saying “bro that’s fresh!” which made Jason laugh about the comeback of the word “fresh.” That night turned into a family crafting session at our kitchen table, with all of us designing our own wristbands with geometric shapes and patterns.
Mom struggled with sewing them together – they were tiny and complicated – but she eventually got them all done. Dad suggested we call them “Zox Straps,” which we thought was hilarious at the time, but he insisted it would catch on. He still claims he owns 1% of the company because of that name!
The next day, Jordan and I wore our Straps to school. When we got home, we were bursting with excitement – everyone wanted one. That’s when we all realized Jason had stumbled onto something big: a completely new style of wristband.
We sat down together and mapped out what we wanted this project to be: collectible, collaborative, philanthropic, and an epic experience. To this day, those remain the core pillars of who we are as a brand.
We drew inspiration from everything we loved: Willy Wonka’s golden ticket, basketball card packaging (but resealable!), sneaker nicknames, and even car VIN numbers. Our first printed sample was the “Swagger Jacker” in five colors. The response when we wore them around was incredible.
Our first official release was the F&F (Friends & Family) collection – 1,000 pieces, each numbered on the tag. Numbers 1-100 had gold thread stitching, the rest in white. I still have the photo of all three of us trying to look cool at Jason’s desk when they were finished in mid-2011.
We started carrying them everywhere in sandwich bags, sharing them with people we cared about. What amazed me was how people would constantly give them away right off their wrists – that spirit of sharing became a huge part of our identity and led to what’s now our VIP ambassador program.
After the F&F collection flew off the shelves, Jason spent 17 straight hours building our first website (he’s definitely the tech nerd of the family, even if he claims otherwise). During that marathon session, he designed the “Night Owl” Strap, which really set the tone for how we’d name our designs going forward – everything had to have meaning.
Our second release, “Double Dutch,” came with a surprise: two Straps in each bag with a note explaining “One to wear, one to share.” That note evolved into what we now call the Collector’s card.
Looking back, it’s amazing to see how far we’ve come, but we’re still just three brothers who love what we do. Jason’s always been the proudest big brother, but I have to say – watching this crazy idea grow into something that makes people smile every day has been incredible. As long as we keep spreading joy, we know we’re doing something right.
That’s our story – from a simple idea born from Jason’s sneaker obsession to a family business that’s all about spreading happiness and bringing people together. We may have grown, but at heart, we’re still just three brothers having the time of our lives creating something special.
Video Update
Here’s a Youtube video that my brother filmed in 202o as an update.
PS – we used to have a small video from 2014 of our story. I realized a lot has changed since then, so here’s a newer video. Enjoy!