Brand Focus: Billionaire Boys Club
The brainchild of both Pharrell Williams and Nigo (The legendary founder of BAPE and now the creative director of Kenzo), the initial ideas for Billionaire Boys Club originated when the two first met in Japan in 2001 and bonded over a shared taste in music, design and a similar outlook on life. Williams had the name for the brand already in his mind, and a discussion between the two led Nigo to agreeing not only to designing initial logo concepts but also supporting the brand in its earliest stages. As designs for the first collection were completed, it was decided their debut appearance was to be in a Pharrell music video which was met with adulation and interest across a variety of different subcultures and generations.
Launching their first flagship store in Tokyo, 2003 proved to be a huge turning point for Billionaire Boys Club. The brand was spotted throughout fashion week and had even been worn by Karl Lagerfeld in an article for Harper's Bazaar. Differentiating themselves from the established streetwear scene, which at the time mostly consisted of basic logo t-shirts, by catering to a more traditional high-fashion audience allowed a bridging of the gap between previously irreconcilable demographics and a burst in popularity. The brand had begun to enter mainstream consciousness and desirability.
A fusion of street and skatewear with high fashion and couture has been the specialty of Billionaire Boys Club since their foundation and remains so today, and they are rightly credited with the establishment of contemporary streetwear in the mainstream. With the brand's recent EU relaunch for their 20th anniversary, a childrenswear collection has been launched in conjunction with their menswear range while retaining the graphical style, pops of colour and cultural heritage as the core brand and we're delighted to offer both at Oxygen Clothing, with menswear to follow in the coming months.
