Ksubi (formerly known as Tsubi) is an Australian fashion label, co-founded and directed by surfers Dan Single, George Gorrow, Paul Wilson and Oscar Wright.
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In 2000, Dan Single and George Gorrow were unsatisfied with the range of jeans on the market and couldn't find pairs that fit properly. Under the name Ksubi, they started manufacturing their jeans and denim.
Ksubi made its international debut in London in 2002, with an installation held in the depths of an abandoned tube station at Aldwych. Following this, Ksubi became a contender in the fashion league with their in-store installation at Selfridges Department store in London alongside the likes of Stella McCartney, Martin Margiela and Marc Jacobs.
Ksubi has three official stores, and their garments, jeans and eyewear are sold in boutiques around the world.
The Ksubi Group quickly grew to a turnover of A$19.7 million in 2007, prior to suffering major operational and financial issues in 2008. In 2010 Ksubi was purchased by the clothing manufacturer Bleach, who also own and produce Insight and Something Else.[1]
They currently have 29 employees at their head office in Rosebery.[2]
In 2006, a collaborative project with U.S. style icon and fashion designer, Jeremy Scott titled ‘Jeremy Loves Ksubi’ was shown at Scott’s New York Fashion Week parade alongside his own collection. The collection received rave reviews from the fashion media, and will be available worldwide from April 2007.
Previewing at London Fashion Week in September 2007 was Ksubi’s latest collaboration—"Ksubi for Richard Nicoll sunglasses SS08," designed by Nicoll, made by Ksubi. The eyewear collection consists of three styles and draws colour from Nicoll’s collection.
Ksubi has 5 stores in Australia - in the Sydney suburbs of Bondi and Paddington, Sydney CBD and most recently in Melbourne Central and Chapel Street South Yarra[3]. In 2005, Ksubi opened its first international store in the fashionable New York downtown Nolita district of Soho with a launch party that attracted the likes of models such as Erin Wasson, and the 2 Many DJs crew. Guests were entertained by the DJ sets of Paddy Boom from the Scissor Sisters, The Rapture, Dangerous Dan, James Friedman and Australian band Cut Copy, performing live. The New York store has since closed.
As of October 2009, Ksubi will feature in 19 'shop-in-shop' concept stores within David Jones. The Ksubi that is available through David Jones will include exclusive lines that are priced lower than their traditional boutique range. [Ksubi for David Jones]
On 4 March 2008 Ksubi launched its first online store, developed by strategic design agency Reactive.
However, the direct online presence was short-lived as Ksubi no longer sell directly through their online store.
In 2006, Single and Gorrow reached an out-of-court settlement with US shoe company Tsubo, who threatened to sue Tsubi following a trademark infringement dispute. Tsubo argued in a New York court that Tsubi's use of the first four letters of its name was a breach of its trademark, which was established in 1998 and had been registered in Australia before Tsubi was created. The dispute settlement terms means Tsubi will keep its name in Australia but will now be known as Ksubi in the rest of the world. While the brand, which thrives on notoriety, was not damaged by the name change, there was a lot of talk in the media about the daunting task facing Single and Gorrow - rebranding the label to the rest of the world and creating a new identity and name recognition for the new brand name, Ksubi.
Ksubi is pronounced as "soobie" in Australian accents, and "sue-bee" in American accents. The first letter in both Ksubi and their earlier name Tsubi has always been silent.
The label hit headlines around the world in 2001 when they unleashed 200 live rats onto the catwalk, and is now known for its rebellious and attention-grabbing antics, such as warehouse installations, late-night sex parties, boat fashion shows (where they pushed all of the models fully naked into the water), and, more recently, 2006's futuristic parade and post-apocalyptic inspired collection at Australian Fashion Week.
In 2006, Single and Gorrow designed and released a diffusion line of fashion for Australian chain-store Jeans West called Alba Fan Club. Originally planned as a cheaper and limited-edition label, due to its success and popularity in Australia and New Zealand the designers are now contemplating a wider international market for the brand. Alba Fan Club has featured in the August 2007 issue of Nylon magazine.
In 2005, Ksubi released a book to mark their five-year anniversary, and is described as one of the most important concepts they have worked on to date. Its pages showcased the art, the people, the fashion and the fun behind what makes Ksubi. The launch of the commemorative book took place on a worldwide tour of cities: Sydney, Paris, Tokyo, London, Hong Kong and LA. Friends, celebrities and influential media guests were in attendance in each country.
Following this, in 2006, Ksubi also toured their latest photographic exhibition ‘Magnum Opus’, shown in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Paris. The exhibition highlighted the ‘Ksubi for dickheads’ sunglasses range, and will also be seen in LA and NY.
In 2007 ksubi produced and released the book "sign of the times" the photographic reportage style book featured photos by george gorrow, paul wilson and michael nolan. The photos captured the journey of a 7 ft high ksubi sculpture depicting a giant hand doing the peace symbol with the fingers cut off and bleeding. The sculpture was toured by ksubi from LA to The Burning Man Festival in Nevada and then across country to New York.
2006 also saw Ksubi collaborating with record label K7. Single, under the name DJ Dangerous Dan, mixed a CD under the Ksubi banner for a national and international release of K7 ‘KSUBI presents DJ KICKS CD for! K7 RECORDS’. This project is the first of many that sees ksubi becoming more involved in the music scene.
Dan Single, or Dangerous Dan, is also part of prominent Sydney based DJ six-piece "Bang Gang". Bang Gang consists of Ajax, Nolan, Jamie Doom, Gus Da Hoodrat, Dj Damage, and Dangerous Dan. Their early party days in dark nightclubs, such as 3rd Class in Melbourne and have progressed to supporting Daft Punk in their Nevereverland tour of Australia in late 2007.