An artist from south London has transformed his life for the better, after he left behind his troublesome life to create bespoke jackets for superstars across the world.
Jaye Parsons, born and bred in Forest Hill, is currently writing a memoir dedicated to his younger years and how he managed to change his life.
During his adolescence, Jaye landed himself with problematic groups of people and faced unintended consequences.
After dealing with difficult situations and trying to discover himself, Jaye fine-tuned his mindset, and headed towards an enhanced lifestyle full of opportunities.
Despite having no previous experience and qualifications, Jaye turned his imaginative ideas into leather jackets with one-of-a kind designs.
Now, the 30-year-old artist creates the bespoke jackets for people across the world, including megastars such as Floyd Mayweather and RnB singer Ashanti.
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Jaye told the News Shopper: “The memoir is a vulnerable piece and leads up to the story of me becoming creative and finding my path.
“There definitely is a mixture of crime, adventure, and love in the memoir.
“It goes into detail about relationships and the trials and tribulations I had to go through with my first love, including issues of discrimination.”
The idea behind the memoir stemmed from his diary, Jaye says, as he has re-used his diary entries from when he was 18 and transformed them into a memoir.
Jaye – who has been living in Shoreditch over the past year – works as a full-time artist, where he and a single tailor create unique leather jackets.
Jaye added: “I mainly create menswear jackets, but I design jackets for women too.
“To be honest, I've always been into customising leather biker jackets for myself and from then, it’s turned into a business.
“The idea sparked from a trip to Canada, where I was invited to an after party and a rap group was performing.
“The group saw one of my jackets and I decided to give them one of my jackets, literally off my back, and then they wore it for a Pretty Little Thing commercial.”
Jaye says he has managed to keep up with the momentum by co-signing artists, reality TV stars and athletes – including the likes of Floyd Mayweather and RnB singer Ashanti.
Jaye explained: “I’ve worked with some amazing stars – such as Gatsby from TOWIE, Tory Lanez and quite a few celebrities.
“I’ve always been a creative person, so the designs behind the jackets come pretty natural to me.
“I never studied for it – I was just interested in art and have been since I was young.”
After Jaye finishes his anticipated memoir, he told the News Shopper that he is planning to film a documentary movie, to go alongside his art.
He added: “I want the movie to be an abstract art piece to go alongside the memoir.
“The film will feature people that I’ve met along my journey, and I want to add music performances and dialogues in it.
“But for now, I’m hoping to get the first draft of my memoir written by the end of summer.”
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