Bio

In the middle of a journey towards the American dream, John Ly was born. His parents and siblings were traveling through Malaysia when one crisp Fall morning, in 1979, John came to be. That migrant journey took John from Malaysia, all the way to Northern Washington and down to the Bay Area, California.

Anyone who knows John would not be surprised to learn that his extraordinary talent and interest in art began to express itself when he was a young child. He discovered early on the power and comfort of getting lost in his artwork; the power and comfort in translating the visions locked in his mind and the words wandering through in his heart, onto a canvas.  As a result he found himself continuously producing artwork, his visions and ideas endlessly oozing from his creative mind down to his hands, thru a brush, and onto a canvas.

His passion for design and conceptualization stems close from home. As a child, John’s mother manufactured dresses in Oakland. His mother had an immigrant drive to succeed and worked diligently towards a dream. As a result, John and his family would spend many days watching his mother, and eventually, helping her with her work. Little did he imagine in those childhood days, that this time would eventually serve to help him design and manufacture clothing a well.

His curiosity for apparel was seeded. He would eventually use what he learned with his mother to not only conceptualize well fitting and functional apparel, but be mindful of the execution process as well.

Working on a degree in fine arts and graphic design he eventually landed a job as an illustrator for an amazing local apparel company.

However, designing alone was not enough. His curiosity for how the apparel was planned, produced and executed became an obsession. He has, as a result dedicated the last 15+ years of his life to design and conceptualization.

As he will often tell you, "I am not sure why all of these critical events happened in my life, but they have enabled me to create rapidly and at high levels. What I can say is, I am extremely blessed and lucky. "

Career

John’s career in the Outdoor Garment Industry has refined and redefined itself for over a decade. 

He started as a contract illustrator for The North Face, one of the worlds best Outdoor apparel companies.  His transition into design originated in 2005 when he took on the challenge to design the company’s new “Freeride” collection in the Snow Sports division. Fueled by his curiosity and passion for product, his designs drove the vision for the “Free Ski” and “Freeride” collections for over 5 years.

In 2007, he moved on to the Outdoor and Summit Series team where he worked on various high profile expeditions and technology platforms from 2007-2012.

In 2014, John became the Design Director of the VF Global Innovation Center, expanding his designs across various brands such as Vans, Timberland, and The North Face.

Between 2007-2012, John's work is linked to various high profile expeditions to Everest, Meru, and Denali.

Additionally, John has multiple awards for best in class product as well as over 10 patents to his name.