Years ago while walking down Main Street in South Central Los Angeles in the late afternoon, one would expect to see the city's youth pour out of the schools and into the streets in baggy jeans and oversized dark-colored t-shirts. Today, a different crop of kids stand out proudly wearing skinny jeans with bright-colored shoes and shirts.
Instead of getting into trouble, they can be seen gathering in circles to dance after school and listening to their favorite music groups such as the New Boyz or Rej3ctz. These kids are a part of a new trend called jerkin'.
Jerkin', or the jerk, is a street dance from Los Angeles that involves one moving their legs in and out to do "the jerk" while doing other jerkin' related moves such as the "reject," "dip," or "pindrop." While jerkin' originally gained popularity on the West Coast, it has been rapidly spreading throughout the rest of the United States and towards the East Coast. The popular dance style was first thrust into to the mainstream with the hit single "You're a Jerk" by New Boyz in 2009 and its popularity has reached new heights ever since.
Initially exposed to the new dance in her own home, Jill Kim, CEO of popular jerkin" shoe company Vlado Footwear, saw a great way to support her kids and expand her business at the same time.
"Three years ago I saw my kids, my son and daughter, and they had friends come over to the house and they were practicing this dance off of Youtube. They were dancing and practicing on the weekends and when I asked them what they were doing they said it was a new dance with all the teenagers. Before, when the new series of limited edition Jordan Air Force One Nike shoes came out the kids would all line out in front of stores. With this style I saw the same demand and the passion."
Kim, who started up Vlado Footwear eight years ago with her brother in Paramount, decided to take the business in a different direction that would cater to these young kids trying to express themselves. Vlado Footwear soon began designing bright colored shoes made especially for jerkin' and even started up the National Jerkin' Association. Before long, the shoe company became popular among jerkin' crews and they supported the scene with even greater lengths by holding competitions on Youtube.
Today, Vlado Footwear is located in Los Angeles on Main Street and the National Jerkin' Association has over 30 jerkin' crews on their website from various states across the country including California, Texas, New York and even Hawaii. The website also lists Vlado's many music artists and groups as well as pages for photos, events, and jerkin' contests.
"Basically what we do is support the up and coming underground artists and dancers giving them exposure through our website and their social network pages. It's become a dance phenomenon," Kim said. "We did a big jerk dance event with the Clippers last year at the LA convention center, which was one of the biggest competitions and was very successful. We were also were able to give the proceeds to the underprivileged children at the Covenant House."
Jerkin' has become much more that a dance, participants insist. With its own unique fashion, music, and dancing style it has truly become a culture and way of life for these kids.
"I wanted to create our own brand and make it affordable with realistic prices without all those hidden costs for the name and also make it with the quality and fashion design that can cater to everybody," Kim said. "Basically I think it's been successful because were supporting something that the kids started."