Back when we started Proper, the new brands on the block needed to be sought out in person. The formative years of retail icons like Oi Polloi were built on their personal insight and their magpie eye for something nice. As the internet grew the world became much more joined up and that connectivity allowed brands to access their potential public in a way never seen before. That’s great from a consumer and brand point of view but as a gatekeeper of nice things it made it harder to keep things under your hat.
Consequently, the way we discover new stuff changed to a largely digital experience. That’s why it was nice to find Minor Planet for the first time in an actual shop rather than online. While down in London recently, we popped into Progress Running Club, a store with a slant towards the pursuit that used to be called ‘jogging’ until everyone started taking it a bit more seriously. Minor Planet are here to make any run you undertake that much more stylish an experience, and if you don’t like putting one foot in front of the other in a rapid fashion, this is gear you can wear in a more relaxed setting.
Intrigued and refreshed by finding a brand in the old way, we reached out to one of the main heads behind Minor Planet, Jason Levine and asking him a few questions. Here’s what he said.

First of all, tell us who is involved in Minor Planet and what their backgrounds are?
Myself- Jason Levine concept, creative and design. Takashi Yamada- director and textile expert. Mike Stewart- Photography, video, and all around organization. And then we have a small team in Japan, Ohba Masahito, Ito Yoshihiro and Yanase Kazuki from Takihyo ltd. handling all production.Tahihyo is a 270 year old textile company with its beginning in Kimono production.
Having a brand linked to such a long-established textile expert must be a huge plus for you?
It’s amazing! Minor Planet would have never come to life without them. They initially reached out from the Japan office to Takashi here in New York who then linked up with me. From there it began. Being a part of a company with such a rich tradition is mind blowing, they are older as a company than the United States is as a country. And everyone at Takihyo is an absolute pleasure to work with. We couldn’t have done any of this without their expertise.

Tell us about the culture around Minor Planet. You started out with Yoga in mind?
My initial thought when Takashi and I were getting started was let’s start a “cool” yoga brand. This is where my interests lie and I thought it would be way easier to carve a niche as the bizzaro LuLuLemon as opposed to another streetwear brand. But I was also looking at yoga as a way to relate to the world in all settings. So the idea is you do your practice- for us that means (yoga, meditation, cold plunge, running, skateboarding, surfing, and snowboarding) for a healthy body, in turn a healthier mindset, and then hopefully resulting in being a nicer person to yourself and others. We are collectively calling this “Spiritual Sports”. This is the framework that goes into the culture around Minor Planet. We sometimes refer to it as “Unprofessional Technology” as you’re literally changing the physiology of the body using these simple tools of movement, focus, and breath. As a side note, my earlier years were not very healthy at all, i “partied” from 13 to 37 years old and then had a bit of a spiritual awakening u turn if you will. I think that is why i’m so passionate about this lifestyle, i’ve seen both sides. And i’m definitely not alone in this yoga run skate community that is now living a “straight edge” life. I left being straight edge at 13 and found my way back and really love it.
Beyond Yoga, you’ve also put together clothing for running. Tell us about that?
Running is such an integral core practice to this lifestyle. Of course none of this is for everyone, this is what speaks to us. We would never say this is the only way to connect, but we love running and look at it more as moving meditation. Running ticks a lot of boxes that get you to that end result of being nicer to yourself and to all. You’re out in the open air and elements, moving your body, going beyond where you thought you could go. There is a built-in transcendence to the process. That is why we love all of these “practices” or “systems” ; they can be vehicles for transcendance- you don’t really need to know too much other than to keep going one foot in front of the other and you find yourself on the other side. That is the only place you receive the answers, and no one else in the world can do it for you.
So we are always trying to facilitate these practices whether it’s running, yoga, or skating through our clothing, Porter bag collaborations and yoga mats. I am running all of these aspects through every step of the design process. Can you go straight from the yoga practice, to the skate spot, out to a social event, back home to hang with the kids, all while feeling loose, and flowy, utilitarian and stylish. Our idea of what the modern day healthy spirited lifestyle can look like. We are creating a mindful athletics brand which is usually kind of hippie centric which is great but we thought it was nice to tell this story in relation to our upbring here in the greater NYC area. Just because you’re in a place that is a little hard edged doesn’t mean you can’t live a fun colorful healthy kind lifestyle and still be grounded in that New York east coast DNA.

What can we expect in 2025 from Minor Planet?
Well so far we are really trying to fine tune as we go from season to season. The Spring 25 cassette of items is my favorite so far for sure. We have some interesting rain gear, Japanese inspired workwear/ dress pants that you can go to work in, do yoga, or skate in, new ski hat styles, and graphics furthering the inspiration of the yogic philosophy. I’m a lover of uniforms, tonal top to bottom, so the pursuit of the Minor Planet uniform is always part of the mission. Also more exciting collaborations and pop ups- Movie screening with APR Mag in February for the documentary Blisters in NYC, Blue In Green Soho store collab in the spring, CRT jeans Japan collab and “sports” event, Downbeat Japan collab, and possibly another Porter bag with a run and meditation event in Bangkok! We will most likely have another Pilgrim Japan pop up and collab as thery are opening a new store in Japan. And our first collab tee with Progress Store in London- We haven’t made it to London yet but maybe 2025 is the year to finally run with the Progress crew! The best part by far in building Minor Planet is the opportunity to meet so many amazing inspiring people.

If you’ve thought even further ahead, what’s the long term goal for the brand?
Honestly this is a total dream come true. We are so happy to make it to this point and be able to connect with all the different amazing communities of positive people. I think as long as we are doing the work that is calling to us, that will keep leading us to the next step. A big part of how we like to keep things in focus is the Japanese philosophy called “Shoshin” or beginner mindset. As long as we are just taking one step at a time, celebrating where we are blemishes and all, freeing up those insecurities and staying open to the joy of it, I think we will be going in the right direction.We want to make cool useful inspiring clothes for this lifestyle but in the end the goal is to be an all around kind person to ourselves and all people.
To find out more about Minor Planet, head to their website here
Take a look at FW24 shots below.





