It’s the fashion brand born in Queens that defined a generation.
On Feb. 24, fans gathered at the Hard Rock Hotel in Times Square to honor hip hop inspired fashion designers.
Long before he became a famous face on “Shark Tank,” Daymond John convinced his mom to mortgage the family home in Hollis, Queens to help turn a dream for a clothing line into reality.
What You Need To Know
- FUBU, Karl Kani and Dapper Dan were just some of the designers on hand at the Hard Rock Hotel to celebrate 50 years of hip hop-inspired fashion.
- FUBU, short for "For Us By Us," started in Queens 30 years ago and became an international brand thanks to hip hop stars like LL Cool J
- Before Daymond John became famous on Shark Tank he started the FUBU brand with three of his childhood friends: J. Alexander Martin, Keith Perrin and Carl Brown
- "The Drip" fashion show at the Hard Rock Hotel on Feb. 24 was sold out and many stars, including Fat Joe, were present
John enlisted three childhood friends: J. Alexander Martin, Keith Perrin and Carl Brown.
“Back then we were thinking we just wanna have a clothing brand - and not be in the street and do stuff that we shouldn’t be doing," Martin said.
“We didn’t have social media, so we either had to be there or not. So it was a struggle, but we knew that we had something — we just didn’t know when it was going to pop.” Perrin added.
As rap music exploded in the 90s, it also sparked a fashion revolution from head-to-toe: from Kangols and name plates to hoop earrings and Adidas.
“We grew up hip hop fans, fans of music, fans of dance — I used to be a break dancer — and we just figured out a way to capitalize on the business,” explained Brown.
Turns out the masterminds behind FUBU were in the right place at the right time.
They got their brand featured in Mariah Carey’s music videos and, in no time, their hats and hoodies were in high demand …
Then hip hop icon LL COOL J, their friend from Hollis, did a national commercial.
“We knew he was gonna wear the hat, we didn’t know he was gonna say it in the song,” Perrin said.
“It was a godsend for him to let us be a part of him. A person of that magnitude helping a group of young guys,” Martin said.
By the mid-90s, FUBU hit it big: buyers from Macy’s and other major retailers came calling.
The brand starting cashing in hundreds of millions of dollars in sales.
And as hip hop went mainstream, FUBU had plenty of competition in the streetwear industry.
For example, designer Karl Kani started in 1989 in Brooklyn. He was on hand at the fashion show at the Hard Rock Cafe, as was the legendary Dapper Dan, who started in 1982 and carved his own path in the fashion industry.
As hip hop marks its fiftieth year, designers are taking their game to the next level.
The FUBU brand is still sold around the world and, perhaps best of all, four buddies from Hollis are still friends after all these years.