How BBC Set the standard
By Zuza Gaboush
Image via Billionaire Boys Club
Bright designs, chunky sneakers, graphic tees, jean pockets crammed with color– expressive colors and patterns are a signifying factor of streetwear. I can distinctly remember being a teenager and scrolling through instagram in 2016, double-tapping on skaters whose faces were obscured by BAPE zip-up hoodies, or flashing the yellow stripe of an Off-White belt. This specific era of streetwear fashion, one where brands like BAPE, Stüssy and Supreme were reaching the height of their popularity, acted as a game changer in the way that streetwear evolved into high fashion and the current culture of today. However, one of the original labels that can be credited with paving the way for a majority of streetwear brands' aesthetics, originating new marketing tactics and linking the divide between streetwear clothing and the world of high fashion is the infamous, black-owned streetwear brand: Billionaire Boys Club.
Founded by Pharrell Williams and Nigo in 2003, this streetwear brand acted as a catalyst for launching streetwear clothing into the high fashion industry. Pharrell has always been known for his eccentric and trail-blazing ideas, and in need of a partner to help bring his designs to life, he decided to join forces with the Japanese founder of BAPE, Nigo. Despite the language barrier, Nigo and Pharrell understood each other through artistic intuition, and as Pharrell detailed his visual concepts, Nigo was able to tailor them to life. The two were an automatic duo. Over a single dinner, they met and discussed their objectives for the creation and launch of the brand Billionaire Boys Club (BBC), cementing their ideas for the designs, logo, creative advisory, and more. Soon after, in 2005, BBC opened its first retail store in Tokyo, Japan; the creative vision encompassing the store itself, which resembled a West Coast ice cream shop, complete with sneakers displayed in freezers and intergalactic symbolism that mirrored the brand’s logo of an astronaut helmet. From there, it was history. Stores opened in New York and London, and a few years later, A-list celebrities were sporting BBC, repping the brand in music videos and to red carpet events.
BBC were the first to employ tactics ingrained in streetwear brands today, such as ensuring their product runs were tight, heightening exclusivity and creating a rarity factor that boosted desire for the brand, teasing new drops in music videos, establishing iconography that was immediately recognizable, etc. Even more impressive, was the bridging of the gap between high-fashion and streetwear. Pharrell and Nigo managed to marry the two and allow what had previously existed in separate worlds to coincide and become the cohesive blend we see in couture today.
BBC encourages its community to “perceive wealth through humanity, compassion, creativity and curiosity.” Pharrell even became the first rapper to have his own skate team, in an effort to give back to the community that inspired and provided the foundation for his now legendary brand. Billionaire Boys Club stands as a testament to the power of creative, compassionate and innovative black minds that have shaped the history and culture of streetwear forever.
