“urban” culture is being totally consumed by Asian youths who go for everything from dreadlocks and baggy clothes to breakdancing and even Asian lyrical MCs. To capitalize on the growing awareness of the brand, FUBU has slowly begun to position itself as a youth-oriented brand instead of solely African American. FUBU uses the fact that most kids – regardless of location – can identify with its inner city cutting-edge designs and concepts.

But how did FUBU evolve? The year was 1992 in Queens, New York, when Daymond John became so fed up with the lack of unique urban gear in his neighborhood retail stores that he devised a scheme to launch his own urban apparel wear. With a US$100,000 mortgage on his home and the assistance of three neighborhood friends, J. Alexander Martin, Keith Perrin and Carl Brown, John turned half of his home into a factory and the other half into living quarters the group. Thus heralded the birth of one of the fastest-growing African-American owned companies in today’s fashion industry.

FUBU started out with men’s T-shirts, rugbys, hockey jerseys and baseball caps all with the FUBU insignia. In the last decade, it’s grown to include a full line of men’s, ladies’, and children’s wear as well as accessories, and footwear. Recently it launched FUBU Platinum, which is a collection that features the African-American 70s cartoon favorite Fat Albert and the Gang on sweaters, sneakers, jeans and t-shirts.

In essence what started out as an “around the way” project has evolved into a US$850M business, with Samsung America, the tenth largest company in the world, assisting FUBU with its production and distribution needs. And it’s grown tremendously in the last decade; FUBU is now being sold in over 5,000 stores worldwide and online.

And FUBU’s been heading east to capitalize on its popularity in Asia. It currently has freestanding stores and wholesale distribution in both Korea and Japan along with upcoming ventures in China. FUBU is also said to be signing a distribution license with F.J. Benjamin to open a total of 34 stores in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Taiwan. Distribution licenses have been given by FUBU to Taiwan based Unioncon and China based Yuntex in a joint venture to open 25 shops each year for the next five years. FUBU has become a formidable presence in the retail industry in both the US, Asia and around the world.

Perhaps the most remarkable part of this story is that the original four partners are still in business together. John is CEO, Martin is Vice President, and Perrin and Brown are Co-founders.

And they’re not just content to sit back and let the profits roll in. The newest challenge for these four talented men will come in the adversities of the music and film industry. In December of last year, FUBU launched FB Entertainment and FUBU Films. The team has collaborated with Universal Records to release a hip hop and R&B compilation CD this year, as well as co-producing an upcoming feature film called “The Crow: Lazarus,” starring rap and film star DMX.

Indeed Team FUBU has shown the world the rebirth of young men’s sportswear and then some. But they aren’t getting too big for their britches. As Marketing/PR President Leslie Short says, “It’s nice to know that at the end of the day we still make t-shirts.”

Nana Eyeson lives and works in New York.