Meet Jay
Founder. Runner. Designer. Artist. Creative. Community Builder.
Still becoming.
What’s up — I’m Jay (he/him). I’m a Black and Mexican trans man, a lifelong runner, and an artist, as well as the creator of SLI.ME HABIT — a brand that started from survival and grew into something bigger than me.
Running has always been there for me and fashion has always been a passion.
As a kid growing up in a strict, religious, single-parent home, I didn’t always have the language to explain who I was — but I moved. I ran to escape, to dream, to stay fukin sane.
I’ve dealt with poverty, identity, family silence, addiction, and the deep ache of not being seen. Alongside running, art and fashion became another way I processed those experiences — a space to explore identity, body, visibility, and belonging.
After studying fashion and graphic design, I hit some of the darkest points in my life. But when I moved to New York, everything started to shift. I found running again — not just as a way to heal, but as a way to reconnect with myself. At the same time, my artistic and creative practices deepened. I climbed, step by step. I built community. I rebuilt me.
I became a leader in the running world, grew in the fashion world as a model and creative, earned two promotions in two years, and found my voice in spaces where people like me are often left out. That’s when I decided to bring fashion, subculture, running, and art into conversation — without forcing them to be the same thing.
SLI.ME HABIT is my way of making sure no one feels that alone. It’s a space for the in-between. For the powerful. For those becoming. For those who run not just to move — but to survive, to feel, to rise.
“It’s them. Then it’s you.”
I live by that. I run to honor those who came before me, and then I run for myself — for clarity, for sanity, for visibility.
I’m not here to fit in.
I’m here to move forward — and bring people with me. This brand isn't just a running brand. Its culture, subculture, community, and self-expression.
Let’s fukin go.
— Jay