FUBU is Working on a Comeback Line

Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.

FUBU, one of the original hip-hop/streetwear icons, is making a move to return to the U.S. after a five-year hiatus, says founder Daymond John. The line is getting a revamp and will be more "Carhartt-meets-Abercrombie & Fitch style," but John isn't too worried about losing FUBU's brand identity, because "kids have a three-year memory span, so most don't have a sense of the brand's roots."

FUBU has had a presence internationally in about 150 stand-alone stores, which is a big step down from its heyday. In 1998 the company had total sales of more than $350 million, and was stocked in more than 5,000 stores. Unfortunately, John considers one of his biggest failures to be the fashion-darling Heatherette line by Richie Rich and Traver Rains, which was tragically shuttered because while its campy craziness made it a favorite of fashion types, "it didn’t translate from the runway to retail wearability," according to John. Sigh. FUBU is expected to be back in the U.S. in the fall of 2010, when John expects the timing will be ripe for a comeback.
· FUBU Returning to U.S. [WWD]