Last week, when Beyoncé and Jay Z took their thrones courtside in Brooklyn for a Nets game, all eyes seemed to be on Mrs. Carter and her Off-White leather jacket. However, we couldn't help but notice Jay Z in a custom camo jacket with the words "All Glory Is Fleeting" on the back, and a lining made out of a signed Michael Jordan rookie jersey. Jay Z's jacket wasn't as easily recognizable as a Virgil Abloh creation, but no worries, because we did the leg work for you. Meet the frank & jan, who's responsible for the jacket—and one of the Jay Z's favorite brands right now.
The husband and wife duo, whose names they used for the brand, were featured on Jay Z's Life+Times website back in 2011, kick starting their working relationship with the rapper. Jay Z then wore the brand's "Blame Society" T-shirt while out in NYC in 2013. Following that, frank & jan told Global Grind in 2013 that they "literally reprinted one of every design from our archive specifically for him."
Their latest connection to Jay Z is the custom camo jacket they made for the rapper, which they told us was their way of thanking him for the support. "We wanted to do something unique as a thank you for repping our brand," the couple said. "It had to be something that he couldn't get anywhere else—one of a kind."
Of the "All Glory Is Fleeting" phrase written across the back of the outerwear, the couple said it's something that stood out to them while they were rereading this passage from Wright Thompson's ESPN story on Jordan, which celebrated the NBA legend's birthday:
There's a fable about returning Roman generals who rode in victory parades through the streets of the capital; a slave stood behind them, whispering in their ears, "All glory is fleeting." Nobody does that for professional athletes.
It's fitting then that the jacket is lined with MJ's rookie jersey.
"It all fell into place from there," said the designers behind frank & jan. "The phrase, the article, the significance of Jordan's Rookie of The Year jersey - it just worked."
frank & jan's designs are available online here.
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