Fubu cofounder Daymond John has a killer view of midtown Manhattan from his 66th-floor office suite in the Empire State Building. But on a recent Wednesday afternoon, that view was mostly blocked by racks of Fubu's fall 2000 clothing line, which will be featured at an upcoming fashion show. John's gaze never wanders from inside the office where workers buzzing back and forth thrust Fubu fashions - oversized shirts, beefy leather jackets and baggy jeans - into his field of vision, seeking approval.
Fubu - or For Us, By Us - is operating the way a fashion house should on the eve of a big show. It's a pace the typical Internet startup might find exhausting. But it's business as usual for John, a 30-year-old fashion mogul eight years removed from his humble beginnings in Queens, N.Y. A former Red Lobster waiter, John first caught the fancy of the fashion world in 1992 with his hand-sewn knit caps made popular by neighborhood pal and rap star LL Cool J. In the '90s, Fubu became the quintessential street-fashion brand - an invaluable designation in an industry defined by "cool."
Fubu has a homespun mystique, though, that has endeared the brand to professional athletes Kevin Garnett and Terrell Davis, rappers such as Sean "Puffy" Combs, and lately, Hollywood types. In April, Michael Ovitz's Artists Television Group struck a deal with Fubu to coproduce TV shows and music videos. There is also speculation that Fubu will launch a hip-hop record label. Given that Fubu is starting to look a lot like a media company - a notion John dismisses - the Internet seems like the logical centerpiece for Fubu's future.
Yet John is cautious. The company is taking its first steps into e-commerce this week. Fubu.com will feature hats, belts, footwear and women's apparel, some of which will be sold exclusively online. John isn't convinced that e-commerce is the key to transforming the $850 million company into a multibillion-dollar brand.
He can't help seeing obstacles to his e-commerce play. First, retailers still don't look kindly on manufacturers that sell products directly to consumers on their Internet sites. Second, Fubu's core market is urban GenY, the majority of whom are African American, who prefer to touch and try on clothing before making a purchase. "There's a certain I-want-to-shop-this-way [attitude] that you can never take out of people," says John. Still, he adds, e-commerce is worth the effort. "It's a learning experience."
A large segment of the fashion industry shares John's uncertainty. Fubu's larger competitors, including Nautica and Tommy Hilfiger (TOM), have adopted even more conservative approaches. Though their core demographic - teens - hangs out, shops and plays online, neither Nautica nor Hilfiger has staked much of a claim on the Net. You can't buy clothes on Tommy.com, for example, although you can purchase copies of Hilfiger's two books on style there. Levi Strauss has given up on e-commerce altogether. Ralph Lauren and the Gap are the exceptions, investing heavily in e-commerce. But otherwise, the fashion labels aimed at younger generations have used the Web entirely as a marketing outlet, turning their sites into virtual jukeboxes and repositories for old ads. But they've done little online to impact their bottom lines.
