Aman Bayatly and Jaida the Creator on How Champion Is Growing Their World

Streetwear pioneer Champion has been supporting rising talent for nearly a century, and their latest campaign has two Melbourne-based creatives front and centre.

Aman Bayatly, the multi-hyphenate behind Groundzero, and designer, stylist, and photographer Jaida The Creator are featured in the second iteration of the Champion What Moves You campaign. This year, the campaign tagline ‘No Permission’ brings Champion Blanks to the forefront, which have been a canvas for independent artists for decades.

The tagline is a nod to the long line of brands whose history is entwined with Champion—founded by creative luminaries, like Jaida and Aman, who didn’t wait for permission to get out there and make their mark.

Before Supreme was the ubiquitous skating label of choice, it embroidered its name on Champion blanks. Before the late, great Virgil Abloh founded Off-White, his inaugural line of Pyrex Vision hoodies were printed on Champion blanks. Champion blank hoodies have served as the base for brands as close to home as New York-based Kith and as far as Japan’s BAPE.

And after nearly a century of making an indelible mark on streetwear, Champion isn’t slowing down in its commitment to giving local creators the opportunity to actualise their visions. They provided both Jaida and Aman with hoodies to re-work and sell.

Aman collaborated with Melbourne artist Daniel Luxford to use Luxford’s photography as the hero graphic. Sales from the hoodies were used to further support Aman’s start-up, Groundzero.

“I grew up loving Champion apparel, watching my favourite artists rock them, but my parents didn’t have money to purchase any,” he says.

“But when I saw an artist I was developing back in 2013, Adrian Eagle, rocking the Champion super fleece cone hoodie, it reminded me of my childhood. So, I bought my first reverse weave hoodie from Concrete Jungle in Brunswick.

With donated Champion hoodies, Jaida is leading an innovative redesign project. This transformation unfolds in three phases: first, panels are added to widen the silhouette; next, the hoodies are custom-dyed; and finally, they’ll be customised with screen printing and embellished with patches.

This bold endeavour reflects Jaida’s creative vision, breathing new life into a classic garment while pushing the boundaries of contemporary fashion. Her forward-thinking approach honours the hoodie’s heritage and showcases her innovative and creative thinking.

Her fashion label, Sanctuaire, focuses on sustainability and recycling.

“The world truly doesn’t need more clothes,” Jaida says. “Sanctuaire’s mission is to implement a plan that utilises pre-existing materials and garments and, rather than add to an ever-growing problem, aims to solve it.”

Aman’s making his mark in a different field. He co-founded Groundzero, a social market space that connects local creatives and fosters new connections, job opportunities, and communities.

It’s his newest venture, formed alongside entrepreneur Gemma Colbran and soft-launched in June. In a short space of time, Groundzero has already teamed up with accounting company Hnry for a marketing competition, hosted an event sponsored by Champion, and helped producer Jerome Farah launch his latest music video with an invite-only event.

But he’s not new to the creative world: before Groundzero, Aman helmed ON3 Studio, a space he started with a friend in late 2019. It came out of the ashes of Next Level Studios, a studio that he’d worked out of for six years whose owners took Aman in when he “was about to go homeless.”

“The building went up for sale, and I saw the co-owner who originally took me in distraught,” he says. “It really got to me, and I decided to save the studio.”

The pandemic scuttled plans to take over the space, but the vision didn’t waver. ONE3 started playing music in parks and running online workshops as Aman managed, developed and produced for artists like Kaiit and Adrian Eagle. New buyers took over the studio space but were won over after hearing Aman’s story.

“They offered us the second level. From there, we applied for grants and received one. We refurbished the whole space, and the dream came to life.”

Aman’s run at ONE3 was short but packed: he worked with brands like Foot Locker and ASICS, as well as the Arts Centre Melbourne, and hosted artists such as 070 Shake, Kaycyy Pluto and Lithe (for whom Aman was a key part of the creative team).

But after a difficult patch with his business partner, Aman started anew. He pinpoints a specific moment during Eid al-Adha, when he returned to his car after praying at his mosque, and the “vision for Groundzero came” to him.

“I felt like I needed to let go of everything. My business partner approached me to have the business to himself, so I trusted my faith and let go,” he says.

“It was heartbreaking, but I followed my gut, and here I am. So, I’m grateful. Sometimes, you have to start from Groundzero.”

Taking a plunge into the unknown is something Jaida can relate to, as well. When she was approached by Champion to work on the hoodies, she admits she was dissatisfied with a lot of the influencer work she was doing with brands.

“I have so much more to offer in terms of my creativity and in partnerships, and I felt that was being overlooked,” she says. “I made a mental commitment to stop taking jobs that didn’t resonate with me or highlight my capabilities as an artist/designer.”

Standing by her values risked stunting the growth of Sanctuaire, the passion project Jaida was funding with her influencing money. But with the support of the Champion and the sales from the program, Jaida will be able to “invest more time into developing thoughtful designs that consider personalised fits and sustainable materials” for Sanctuaire.

While Jaida and Aman both call Melbourne home, they’ve each been through vastly different journeys to get to this point.

In Aman’s case, it spanned continents. Born in Montreal to a father fleeing war in Iraq and a mother fleeing war in Afghanistan, Aman’s early life was punctuated by upheaval: his family was deported from Canada when he was six, and he passed through Sweden and Pakistan en route to settling in Perth when he was nine.

“Growing up, life wasn’t easy. My dad struggled with PTSD, and police and violence was a common occurrence in my household,” he tells Complex AU. After suffering racist bullying at school, Aman turned to rap music and found an idol in Nas.

“I got inspired by Nas and started writing raps and poetry at 13. By 17, I couldn’t afford studio time, so I taught myself how to engineer and produce. At 20, I came to Melbourne to pursue music based on my older sister’s recommendation.”

Jaida, meanwhile, grew up in Melbourne, “up in the hills surrounded by nature.”

“Before I could walk, my parents would take me through the bush. I think that instilled a love and appreciation for natural landscapes, which I draw so much inspiration from,” she says.

With Champion in their corner, Aman and Jaida are reaching new audiences and landing an extra boost to their already-soaring careers.

“The fact they were so open to hearing my ideas and believing in the Groundzero vision was inspiring to me,” Aman says.

“My first ever campaign in 2020 was with Champion for their ReBound launch—and even then, they highlighted my design work,” Jaida says. “I love that Champion uses their marketing to invest in young artists genuinely; they’ve always been about supporting us.”

And the support goes both ways. As Jaida says, she’s been embodying the Champion ‘No Permission’ campaign quite literally for a long time.

“I actually used to wear a navy vintage Champion sweater to school; I’d get in trouble as it wasn’t the uniform,” she says. “But it was my favourite sweater, so I made it my uniform.”

You can learn more about the Champion What Moves You Campaign and the Creator Program here.