Women Making History: Lin Lin

Posted on 28 October 2009 | 2 Comments

Not only can Lin Lin ride a bike, and look hot while doing so, this woman making history is taking the design, fashion, artwork, toys, lifestyle products, photography, branding and creative/art direction industries by the swift power of a storm. Did I mention she was quite the multi-tasker?

Here’s more on today’s honoree in her own words:

Co-founded by Sam Jacobs, Jellymon is a multi-discipline design and research boutique targetted mainly at a youth market. Not to worry, if you’re young at heart, they’d be quite your cup of tea. Jellymon is mainly based in China but that did not stop them from gaining international renown. The UK, China, US, Europe, Korea, Singapore, Japan and Australia have all benefitted from Jellymon’s sweet and diverse services. They’ve worked with clients such as Nike, Adidas, Reine et Roi, Kid Robot, Levis, Evisu, Wieden & Kennedy, K-Swiss, Adidas, Li Ning, Mizuno, Motorola, Apple, Tomy/Takara and many more.

Lin Lin on the cover of the book "Fashion Tribes: China"

Lin Lin rocking one of her hoodies off the Reine et Roi collabo

It’s quite evident that her creative mind is also at work when it comes to her own personal fashion sense. The book “Fashion Tribes China”, which features different style affiliations among Chinese youth, has Lin Lin on the cover sporting her mode hair cut, futuristic shades, a color splashed windrunner of her Reine et Roi collabo and a determined stance. Evidently, she is in a league of her own.

More on the unique businesswoman:

Some words of wisdom: Pain is inevitable, Suffering is optional

Jellymon Toys

They even conceptualize events!

As if all this wasn’t enough to cement Lin Lin’s position as today’s Woman Making History, Jellymon also conceptualizes and designs events. In fact, they have curated educational design exhibitions. One of their shows titled “No reason” introduced 30 internationals graphic artists.

Evisu Cube Gallery Project

Jellymon Art

M.I.S.S.’ Q&A session with non other than Lin Lin, below!

M.I.S.S.: What woman, besides your mom or grandmother, do you find inspirational?

Vivienne Westwood, for her work ethic and still having so much fun in her 60s.

M.I.S.S.: How did you get your start?

I met my partner Sam Jacobs at Chelsea College of Arts & Design back in 2000, he was in Communication Design course, and I was doing Architecture Spatial Design, we started working on projects together in 2003. First we worked from a small flat above some Albanian illegal workers in Vauxhall, a doggy part of London. Our first project was a website for DJ Adam Freeland’s “ We Want Your Soul” album. One day we woke up with the heating cut-off and even the kettle didn’t work, we decided to design a set of interconnected parallel circuit toy which got picked up by TOMY toys in Japan, more work started to come in and we then moved to a nicer West London basement flat. Following another project for a record store on Carnaby street called Deal Real a television ident for E4 Channel and then work for K-Swiss, Nike, Adidas etc. the rest is just history. We were just two college kids who wanted to create and see our work around.

An interesting peek into Jellymon's Shanghai office

Jellymon designs for Adidas

M.I.S.S.: What’s your favorite project that you’ve worked on?

I enjoyed all the projects we worked on but one that really stands out is the collaboration we did with W+K Shanghai and The Shanghai Watch Co. It was the first collaboration with a state run Chinese company. The Shanghai Watch Co. has a long and illustrious history in Chinese watch making. We managed to convince them for access to their whole back catalogue. We visited their factory that is run by communist workers, it is a real relic of the past.

Jellymon watches: so hot you can't wear just one

The project was by no means easy and we had to jump over loads of hurdles but the final product looked great and was picked up by some amazing stores all over the world including some of our favorite shops.

I love to work with people who are interested in working in China, not only just taking advantage of vast consumer market and current economic climate, but also giving back to local communities.

M.I.S.S.: What part of youth marketing and consulting is the most challenging and do you dislike the most?

China youth consumers are spoiled by options more than ever, it is a generation that grew up under a one-child policy. They have never lived without the rapid sharing of information on the internet. They are an attention-seeking generation that can often appear to be illusive and fickle. The biggest challenge is to convince clients that this group will not consume blindly for long, they like what’s good now but they always want more. Brand localization need to be holistic, you can’t just throw some products into the China market and say “ Hey! Kanye West is wearing it!” and expect people to care.

M.I.S.S.: Any advice for ladies who are just starting out in a career path similar to yours?

Yes, it’ll probably be a little cliché though. I’m 5 feet tall so all I know is that I work hard, really hard and absolutely love what I do. It is still a men’s world out there, going fast is great but don’t forget to stop and take care of your real friends and love-ones. Don’t take shit from people and never take no for an answer. “Turn Up” as Woody Allen famously said, and always dress so fresh & so clean clean!