Jay Yoo

Jay Yoo is the founder of Koyono - designer and marketer of hybrid apparel and iconic accessories for modern professionals who love design and minimalism. Jay's inspiration came from years of business travel around the world when he recognized opportunities to make the adventures of globe trotting business people sexier and easier. Koyono's products include high performance outerwear and shirts with clever pocketing, minimalist wallets and carrying cases, as well as distinctive, award-winning, belt, pen and watch alternatives.

Koyono was founded by Jay in 2000 and officially launched its first product, the BlackCoat, in February 2003 at the Magic International Show in Las Vegas. Koyono's defining moment came in 2004 when the company was approached by MTV to provide the BlackCoat to celebrities participating in the MTV Movie Awards and VH1 Hip Hop Honors. In addition to numerous celebrities now wearing Koyono products, the company sells to several world-renowned economists, entertainment executives, artists and entrepreneurs, legitimizing Koyono as the lifestyle purveyor for GAI Geniuses, Artists and Innovators.

Believe it or not, in a previous life Jay was a corporate guy at Swagelok. There he spearheaded several product and business development initiatives for the oil & gas industry and Japanese markets. At Swagelok, Jay found his love for innovation and entrepreneurship while developing new fluid system technologies for deepwater offshore exploration. He and his team overcame seemingly impossible technological hurdles, time lines, politics and industry cynicism to introduce breakthrough welding and mechanical connection technologies used in complex subsea production and systems. It did not take long after successfully launching these breaks though systems that Jay decided to go out and do the same thing in the fashion industry through Koyono.

Jay is a creative individual who enjoys innovating just about anything and finds inspiration and peace of mind through making sushi. He loves to read about many subjects including innovation, space, history and universal consciousness. He believes in the power of creativity and stands for every human being finding their soul outside of a job and corporate america.

You can read Jay's blog at TheBlackCoat.com.