John C Jay is President of Global Creative for Uniqlo and its parent company, Fast Retailing LLC.
He currently lives and works in New York, Tokyo and Portland Oregon.
During his time as Creative Director for Bloomingdales in its iconic years, His fashion campaigns with Horst, Herb Ritts, David Bailey and Steven Miesel, Michel Comte filled the pages of the New York Times and global magazines. It’s China promotion, “Entering the Dawn of a New Era” has been noted as perhaps the greatest retail promotion in America history. Jay’s nameless, logo less art shopping bags are in museum collections around the world such as the Cooper-Hewitt.
His 20 year tenure as Global Creative Director, partner and trustee of Wieden+Kennedy gave Jay the ability to extend his multi-media skills and interests. In November 1993, after moving to Portland, at the request of Phil Knight, the co-founder of Nike he created the creative and strategic methodology called City Attack with a focus on NYC. This way of respecting local history, creating work with the community while going deep in the culture has remained today as a foundation of Nike marketing.
Jay moved to Japan to open the agency’s first offices in Asia in Tokyo and Shanghai.
IN 1999, Jay and his Wieden + Kennedy office in Tokyo created the first brand campaign for Uniqlo before it had a store in Tokyo. This launch became the catalyst for the modern Uniqlo.
His offices in Tokyo and Shanghai became centers of cultural creation and exchange. His creation of the independent music label, W+K Tokyo Lab was ground breaking ins music and storytelling and
He joined Uniqlo in 2016 and opened the Global Creative Lab in order to help Uniqlo become a great global brand with its roots of quality and respect for all drawing from its origins in Japan.
Today, he and his teams oversee the creative and marketing collaborations with the Museum of Modern Art, Tate Modern, The Louvre and Boston MFA.
The Global Creative Lab also works with all the major designers, starting with Jill Sander for +J and now with Christopher LeMaire and Sarah-Lynn Tran, Jonathan Anderson and Clare Waight Keller. Jay also oversees the marketing creative work with all the global ambassadors including Roger Federer, Cate Blanchett and Emma Raducanu.
Outside of his role for Uniqlo, Jay also oversees his Art J Foundation and its HQ in Portland serving artists and other creators. His new East West Cultural Lab will open in Portland this Fall with other global sites in the future. End of Summer, the artist residency, founded by the late Matt Jay is now a part of the Art J Foundation and will expand its support of young artists as a part of the Venice Biennale 2026 and the Japan Pavillion.
His book, “Be the Eye of the Cultural Storm” is due to be released in the Fall of 2027.
Jay is focused on the ideas of humanity and creativity, his future projects are about bringing meaning and purpose to his work. His explorations will continue to find ways to change how education teaches creativity while working with top thinkers and makers in the areas of AI with academia, science and creators.
John C Jay was voted in the top ten of Most Influential Art Director by the readers of Graphic Design USA. He was inducted into the Art Director’s Hall of Fame and the Retail Marketing Hall of Fame. Fast Company named him in three list of “100 Most Creative in Business. His book, Soul do the Game was named by Leipzig Book Fair as 14 Most Beautiful Books of the Year and received the gold medal at the Copenhagen Museum.