Industry Textiles CEO Pharrell Williams (2005–) Type of business Private | Founded 2005 Headquarters Tokyo, Japan Founders Nigo, Pharrell Williams | |
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Key people Pharrell, Nigo, Robert Walker Products Apparel, accessories and footwear Profiles | ||
Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream is an American and Japanese clothing retailer featuring two lines of clothing established by Pharrell Williams and Nigo, founder of clothing label BAPE. The lines consist of T-shirts, polos, sweatshirts, knits, denim, suits and shirts; outerwear in leather, down, cotton, and technical fabrics; hats, sneakers, underwear, socks and accessories. The items are produced in very limited quantities and are usually sold for high prices.
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History
In 2005, Pharrell Williams, one half of The Neptunes partnered with Japan's fashion icon Nigo, the founder of A Bathing Ape (BAPE). The two collaborated to create and launch two new premium streetwear brands: Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream. The brand suffered many setbacks after its original conception due to disputes between Williams and Reebok. Reebok was originally set to release the clothing line alongside the Ice Cream sneaker line. Although the sneakers made it, the clothing line was postponed and all projects came to an end in late 2004/early 2005. It was at the very end of 2005 when the brand was finally launched as a partner company to A Bathing Ape.
In August 2011 news surfaced that rapper JAY Z, a frequent collaborator of Pharrell and known to wear BBC himself, would be partnering with the Billionaire Boys Club line. Later it was revealed that the rapper, through a joint-venture with Iconix, had invested in the brand. The following year BBC did record high $25 million to $30 million in volume, up from $12 million.
Billionaire Boys Club originally was exclusively manufactured in Brooklyn, however in recent seasons the clothing has been made in Canada, Mexico, Korea, and Turkey.
New ventures
BBC has launched a brand called Billionaire Girls Club or BGC.
Pharrell and Nigo did a special tribute to Tokyo, with a Tokyo capsule line. The letters "BBC" were replaced by "TYO" and a special astronaut image.
Locations
Billionaire Boys Club has US flagship store in SoHo, New York City, a European flagship store in Soho, London and a store in Tokyo, Japan. Several stores that retail Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream clothing exist across North America, the United Kingdom and Europe, as well as Asia and the Middle East.