Southpole is an American wholesale clothing and fashion company,

designer A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans. In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, products, processes, laws, games, graphics, services, or exp ...

, distributor, licensor, and marketer based in Fort Lee,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, with operating headquarters in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. The company was founded in 1991 by two

Korean American Korean Americans are Americans of Korean ancestry (mostly from South Korea). In 2015, the Korean-American community constituted about 0.56% of the United States population, or about 1.82 million people, and was the fifth-largest Asian American ...

brothers, David Khym and Kenny Khym under their company name, Wicked Fashions Inc. The company's showroom is located on Fashion Avenue in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

History

David and Kenny Khym hail from a family of five children who immigrated to the United States from Incheon,

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

in 1977.Kitchens, Susan.
Hip-Hop, a la Bibimbap
,

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, published February 13, 2006, accessed August 11, 2007. In 1981, David used $10,000 in savings and a $5,000 line of credit to establish a retail clothing store in the Brownsville section of

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. He hired Kenny to work at the store, and in 1989 they relocated to Jamaica, Queens after their landlord for the Brownsville location raised their rent. The Khyms had trouble keeping the baggy urban fashions popular at the Jamaica location in stock, so in 1991 they established a wholesale company called Wicked Fashions to import clothes from

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

. David Khym named the new clothing label Southpole in honor of a team of Korean explorers who had recently become the first from that country to reach the

South Pole The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole, Terrestrial South Pole or 90th Parallel South, is one of the two points where Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on Earth and lies antipod ...

. Southpole succeeded by providing styles similar to those of other popular urban labels such as

FUBU FUBU (, ) is an American hip hop apparel company. FUBU stands for "For Us, By Us" and was created when the founders were brainstorming for a catchy four-letter word following other big brands such as Nike and Coke.Keith Perrin interviewed by Ian ...

, but at a much lower cost. In 1996, Kenny founded his own business, Against All Odds, a chain of mall-based retail stores focusing on urban street fashion. Today, Southpole clothes are imported from manufacturers in

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

, China,

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, and

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

, then sold through both national and e-commerce retailers such as

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, Eastbay,

Foot Locker Foot Locker Retail, Inc. is an American sportswear and footwear retailer, with its headquarters in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, and operating in 28 countries. Although established in 1974, and founded as a separate company in 1988, Foo ...

, J.C. Penney,

Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began a ...

, Dr. Jays and

Burlington Coat Factory Burlington, formerly known as Burlington Coat Factory, is an American national off-price department store retailer, and a division of Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corporation with more than 1,000 stores in 40 states and Puerto Rico, with i ...

. Southpole generated more than $350 million in sales in 2005.

Products

Products include jeans, shorts, shirt, T-shirts, sweatshirts, joggers, jackets, footwear, accessories and “big and tall” to “boys” range.

Company’s Brand Labels

''Lot29®'' brand is launched using licensed cartoon charters like Looney Tunes in 2002. The ''White Tag®'' brand and ''A. Prodigee®'' brand are launched in 2008.WWD Milestones:Southpole at 20. Retrieved from https://pmcwwd.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/wwd0822_sec2.pdf In Spring 2014, the company launches a new line, ''SP Active®'' for everyday basic, active wear such as fleece jogger pants and basketball shorts. In February 2016, the company introduces ''Southpole Antarctic Expedition®'' Outerwear Collection.

Awards and Records

In 2002, Southpole is awarded the J.C. Penney Divisional Award for Men's Apparel. When Southpole's junior line is launched in 2003, the brand is awarded the J.C. Penney Divisional Award for Women's Apparel. In 2010, Southpole is the fifth-largest denim brand in the U.S. behind Levi's, Wrangler, Lee and Calvin Klein, according to

NPD Group The NPD Group, Inc. (NPD; formerly National Purchase Diary Panel Inc. and NPD Research Inc.) is an American market research company founded on September 28, 1966, and based in Port Washington, New York. In 2017, NPD ranked as the 8th largest mar ...

figures.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Southpole Official WebsiteSouthpole Foundation
Hip hop fashion Clothing companies of the United States Companies based in New Jersey American companies established in 1991