New York's king of the skatepark, Tyshawn Jones, is prioritizing giving back with his latest Warby Parker collaboration.

Tyshawn Jones is not your typical pro-skater. He avoids popular spots, sidesteps typical tricks, and prioritizes what&rsquo;s really important: his community. &ldquo;Giving back is something that&rsquo;s important for me to prioritize within my own work,&rdquo; the native New Yorker tells L'OFFICIEL. &ldquo;So it was cool to team up with a brand that focuses on doing good.&rdquo; The brand in question is NYC-based <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/best-designer-sunglasses-fall-winter-2021" target="_blank" rel="noopener">eyewear</a> retailer Warby Parker, next on Jones&rsquo; already long list of collaborations.
Since his prodigal debut at age 14 in Supreme&rsquo;s first full length skate-film Cherry, Jones&rsquo; athleticism and nonchalant swagger have set him apart. When practicing, Jones opts for open expanses of pavement like the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/29/magazine/tyshawn-jones.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">William F. Passannante Ballfield in Greenwich Village</a>. Nicknamed T.F. West (shorthand for &ldquo;Training Facility West&rdquo;) the flat run of pavement acts as a launching pad for Jones to clear upright trash cans. But Jones is no longer a prodigy, and his most impressive accomplishments surpass popping ollies over consecutive trash cans (though that is very impressive).&nbsp;

Tyshawn x Warby Parker video

Tyshawn Jones x Warby Parker

Now at age 22, Jones has already landed <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/film-tv/converse-movie-moments-marie-antoinette" target="_blank" rel="noopener">career-making sponsors</a> like <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/rick-owens-footwear-collaborations-adidas-birkenstock-shoes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Adidas</a> and <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/supreme-and-louis-vuitton-team-up-for-charity" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Supreme</a>, as well as launched his own successful businesses. In 2017, he and fellow skater Na-Kel Smith launched an apparel and skateboard hardware accessories line, <a href="https://www.hardieshardware.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hardies</a>. An athlete-turned designer, he says channeling the streetwear aesthetic starts with what feels right. "Design comes pretty naturally," Jones says. "I just go with what I like and would wear and what me and my friends are into. It&rsquo;s a group effort." In 2018, Jones opened a Caribbean-American joint called <a href="https://www.instagram.com/tastesogoodbx/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Taste So Good</a> in the Bronx the same year he won Thrasher Magazine&rsquo;s prestigious Skater of the Year award.&nbsp;

For his latest collaboration, <a href="https://www.warbyparker.com/sunglasses/men/harris/checkered-bone-and-whirlpool" target="_blank" rel="noopener">now available via Warby Parker</a>, the partnership came naturally. Jones frequents a skate park close to Warby Parker&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/dior-personal-shopping-experince-abcdior-pop-up-soho-new-york" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Soho </a>headquarters and was invited in for a visit in 2019. During his first trip through the office, he discovered another coincidence: &ldquo;Warby Parker actually works with <a href="http://www.is131.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Albert Einstein School</a> through Pupils Project, [its] program that offers free vision screenings, exams, and glasses to kids who need them.&rdquo; The Albert Einstein School is Jones&rsquo; alma mater. &ldquo;When we realized the connection between my middle school and Warby Parker, it made us all smile.&rdquo; In addition to the <a href="https://www.warbyparker.com/pupils-project" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pupils Project</a>, the Warby Parker team also shared its <a href="https://www.warbyparker.com/buy-a-pair-give-a-pair" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Buy A Pair, Give A Pair Program</a> with Jones which &ldquo;really stood out&rdquo; to him.

Despite this being Jones&rsquo; first time <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/kim-kardashian-carolina-lemke-launch-2019" target="_blank" rel="noopener">designing eyewear</a>, it came naturally. The pro-skater says he was &ldquo;very drawn to the process of designing eyewear, since it is so different from designing apparel or other accessories, which I&rsquo;m used to.&rdquo; The inspiration for Jones&rsquo; <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/ways-to-style-patchwork-denim-trend-tom-ford" target="_blank" rel="noopener">checkerboard </a>acetate frames came from a custom, hand-layered pair he spotted in the Warby Parker studio. Developed by the in-house design team several years earlier, Jones thought the &ldquo;checkerboard print really popped.&rdquo; Together with the skater, the Warby Parker team decided to pair the acetate with its Harris frames to better represent the Jones' own vibe. &ldquo;I wanted to bring this color to a classic style. Because I&rsquo;m always outside and on the move, we decided to make them in <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/huge-sunglasses-trend-60s-70s-nostalgia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sunglasses</a>,&rdquo; he shares of the end result.&nbsp;

Design comes pretty naturally&mdash;I just go with what I like and would wear and what me and my friends are into. It&rsquo;s a group effort.

For pro-athletes everywhere,<a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/politics-culture/black-lives-matter-movement-nominated-2021-nobel-peace-prize" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&nbsp;the past year</a> of quarantine and <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/politics-culture/princess-marie-chantal-etiquette-book-tips" target="_blank" rel="noopener">COVID restrictions</a> have proven challenging, but Jones has stayed positive throughout. &ldquo;It has definitely been more fun to skate with no one in the streets!&rdquo; Jones says. But the empty skate parks and somewhat ghosttown-like New York City of present isn&rsquo;t a reflection of the skate <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/politics-culture/who-was-florynce-flo-kennedy-black-feminist-activist" target="_blank" rel="noopener">community</a>'s usually buzzing turf. However, Jones encourages people to keep in mind that&nbsp; &ldquo;as competitive as it is, it&rsquo;s still a real community of like-minded people. It&rsquo;s also a really creative community. Lots of skaters do other things and build other brands that the big corporations try to emulate.&rdquo;&nbsp;
For years, large scale <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/5-designers-to-remember-from-midwest-fashion-week" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fashion</a> and retail companies have appropriated elements born from the skate community as Jones rightly points out. But it&rsquo;s individuals within the <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/politics-culture/phyllis-galembo-photography-book-interview-2019" target="_blank" rel="noopener">culture</a> like Jones who are rewriting the narrative. Visibility, modesty, and charity are clearly at the top of Jones&rsquo; list of priorities. And by starting his own fashion-based business and seeking out community-oriented collaborations like this most recent venture with Warby Parker, Jones is redefining what it means to be a pro-skater.

Photos: Warby Parker

Tyshawn Jones is Transforming the Pro-Skater Image

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