Jerome LaMaar went from a Key Foods cashier to Baby Phat intern at 15. He’s from the South Bronx – the Soundview area to be exact and it’s been 20 years now that LaMaar, 35, has been in the industry. Success has been steady since his school days at Manhattan’s Art & Design High School, which he chose to attend based on school alumni like Marc Jacobs and Calvin Klein. Mookie, the nickname that his family gave him as a child, was fortunate and almost a unicorn as his flamboyancy was never challenged. “All the OGs in the hood protected me and made sure I was good, especially on those nights when I was coming back from the city late,” he said.

If you can believe it, he was attending school and interning at both Baby Phat and Complex Magazine on alternate days in the week, keeping busy to avoid getting caught up in the troubles that come with growing – more often than not – up in The Bronx. At Complex, he photographed men for street style before the word meant anything. After high school, he went Ivy League and studied physics at Brown University in Rhode Island before dropping out to return to NYC and fashion to study fashion design at FIT in New York.

He’s since worked with Disney, Beyoncé, and Puma, and partnered with Google, Alife, Grey Goose, and a continuing list of notable names. In life, ups are often followed by a few downs. One of those low moments happened in 2018 when he shuttered his brand due to a lack of recognition from the industry. “Vogue never covered me; they didn’t understand my idea of maximalism and streetwear at the time, so they decided not to acknowledge me,” LaMaar said. Today, he’s back as he gears up to relaunch 5:31 Jerome but solely as 5:31 with the addition of menswear. Throughout our talk, he repeatedly gave credit to Christina Lee, former VP at Baby Phat. After seeing his illustrations, she told me, “Kimora is looking for someone just like you.”

It was there that his life took off and had him working and flying around non-stop. He admits that he wishes “he was more present during his formative years” as he missed out on the simple things you do as a teenager, like getting your driver’s license and hanging out after school. He went by The Style Monk on MySpace and had a friend list of 30-thousand plus, with many of them following him from site to site as social media grew. Now, 5:31 is scheduled to relaunch in late March as he works to follow and look to his dreams – words from his grandmother that he carries with him.

What was your motivation for becoming a fashion designer? 

It was really my family! I adored the way my grandmother and grandfather looked. But what really inspired my entire life was the movie “The Wiz” with Diana Ross. I remember so vividly watching that as a two-year-old. Everyone looked fabulous in the emerald city scene, and I knew I wanted to do that. I wanted to make people feel and look beautiful, and I’ve been doing just that, along with trend forecasting for many brands for half my career. It was the Emerald City scene. I was also inspired by watching Andre Leon Talley on E! way back in the day.

What’s been the most challenging part of becoming a designer and staying one? 

At first, it was finance because learning how to allocate money was quite challenging and being self-funded had its own difficulties. After leaving Baby Phat in 2008, my age started presenting its own challenges. I was apprenticing for Ralph Rucci and looking for full-time work because I was looking for a higher salary. Being that I was still very young with a Babyface, people at that time weren’t taking me seriously or looking to hire me for associate designer roles even though I had already had eight years of designer experience by that point. In 2009, after being at Ralph Rucci for a year, I was recruited to work on trends. This separated me from being a designer and moved me to a trend forecasting role. I became the guy that people came to for advice on what the streets thought was hot, what the kids were wearing, and what would sell in stores. This transition helped me create my own identity away from the Baby Phat brand, and that’s when Jerome became JEROME.

Staying a designer for a while was tough. Eight years ago, I had a meeting with an editor at Vogue but was told they didn’t understand my idea of maximalism and streetwear at the time, so they decided not to acknowledge me. Barneys and Jeffrey kept requesting meetings and never bought into the brand. I remember them saying they love the clothes but, “you don’t have real press no celebrities are wearing your brand.” This was 2013 and I gave up after that. I had this plum coat with large crystals on it and I gave that to Zerina Akers who had just become Beyoncé’s new stylist. I was done with fashion and didn’t want the coat anymore. The next day Beyoncé wore it twice in one day. Instagram went crazy; the same buyers who had just turned me down were calling back and it all turned around from there. Honestly, if Beyoncé hadn’t worn that coat, I probably wouldn’t be a designer and talking to you right now.

What are your aspirations for Jerome the person and 5:31 the company?

Presently I’m focused on making sure 5:31 is a representation of what I need to see next, and what that means is making sure the brand continues to challenge the psyche and the public. Truthfully, I was my biggest critic; I discouraged myself, which is another reason I shut the brand down. I remember applying to the 2016 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund and making it to a certain point but being told I wasn’t as strong as the other people there. Hearing that really took a toll on my confidence and was the last final straw. Over the last few years, I’ve realized how that wasn’t the right reaction and that I shouldn’t have let that make me pout and close my whole brand down. Today I’m very aware of the number of people who support me, and I no longer yearn for validation, but I know now that I am validated and acknowledged. I just want to create cool things that I feel need to exist. I’ve been given many opportunities to create freely, and 5:31 is going to become a brand that we can all wear. Before, I was only doing womenswear, but now, we’re venturing into the menswear arena because I saw that the people following me on social media were interested in what I was wearing personally.

Are there any designers, past or present, that you turn to for inspiration? 

Yes and no. I try not to look at other designers because you’ll get wrapped up in what they’re doing. I am a massive fan of Tom Ford, and everyone who knows me can attest to that. He’s my idol and what he did at Gucci and Saint Laurent back in the day was epic, and I actually had the chance to meet him at the CFDA Awards a while back. I always loved John Galliano; what he’s currently creating at Margiela is stunning! Christopher John Rogers! Kerby Jean-Raymond and I go way back. He’s been my friend since I was a teenager running around acting up. His brand has grown into an essential part of society.

Is there any advice or message about being a designer that you’d like to share with those looking to follow in your footsteps? 

Be patient and be kind to yourself. That’s very important and is one of the new mottos that I’m practicing in life. Everything doesn’t have to happen overnight or immediately and as long as you’re working towards that goal, vision, or concept, you’ll get there. When you do, you’ll look back and say, “that was a good ride.”

How have you given back to your community through your power and positions? 

There’s something in The Bronx that is so special. I mean, Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, and Mickey Drexler are all also from The Bronx. I’ve been on the Bronx Museum board as a trustee for about two years, and I recently joined The Bronx’s Children Museum as well. I opened my store 9J in The Bronx because I wanted to show people that BX was not burning. I did it to prove that we had something to say, and I wanted to change the dialogue and show people we have culture beyond breaking dance and graffiti. I’d like to think I helped shift the conversation and the growth in terms of how people viewed our borough. I helped emerging designers by placing them next to designers from Italy and Japan in the store. I came up with the term “Glocal” to help others understand what I was doing as I mixed the global and local designers.

Since it is Black History Month, I would love to know what this month represents for you. 

First, Black History Month is every month. For me, this is an excellent time to educate people on what it really means to be Black. 2020, through all of its darkness, was a wonderful exhibition of what it is that we have to go through as Black anything, whether it’s Black writers, editors, or models. Last year was the first time in history that we really had a chance to say over a megaphone that was broadcast across the world that you all need to realize what you’re doing to us and our culture. This is the month where more information on being Black in America and the world is shouted out. Here are Black businesses and Black artists, and we’ve been creating culture and have been a part of culture since the beginning. There are hieroglyphs with Nubian kings on them. We’ve been here, and we always will be, so stop trying to wipe us out and exclude us.

Is there any ancestor of ours you wish you could’ve met and why?

James Baldwin! He’s from Harlem like my father, so I have that connection. He was calling people out and letting them know that their behavior and actions towards us aren’t cool, but in a very intellectual way. I wish I could sit with him to get an understanding and discover his ways.

Are there any Black Designers/Creatives known or unknown that you would like to bring to the CFDA’s attention?

I mentioned Christopher John Rogers and Kerby Jean-Raymond earlier. Then there’s Telfar, of course! Charles Elliott Harbison of HARBISON, Anifa Mvuemba of Hanifa, Chuks Collins, who’s also from The Bronx and is really wonderful, Amatullah Abdur of Fenwick, who’s also a student from SCAD, Fe Noel, the designer of the women’s brand Fe Noel, and ALIÉTTE by Jason Rembert.

IG (personal): @jeromelamaar

IG (brand): @531jerome