Ben Davis (clothing)
Ben Davis is a United States-based work clothing line. It was founded by its namesake in 1935.
Company founder Benjamin Franklin Davis' grandfather Jacob Davis was instrumental in the creation of the original Levi's jeans. Despite absolutely no advertising, Ben Davis is very popular amongst many music-related subcultures, especially West Coast rappers. The clothing is very popular among Chicano and "cholo" youth culture.[citation needed] Ben Davis shirts have been shown in the 1992 "Let Me Ride" video from the artist Dr. Dre, the Beastie Boys have mentioned the brand in their music, and Eazy-e used a Ben Davis shirt in his music video for the song Real Motherfuckin G's. Chicano rapper Lil Rob has mentioned Ben Davis clothing in his songs. Ice Cube mentions Ben Davis in his song "Ghetto Vet" on his War and Peace Vol. 1 album and also wears a Ben Davis shirt on his "Friday" music video. On Bangin' on Wax, the 1993 album by Bloods & Crips, Crip rapper AWOL refers to Ben Davis clothing on the song "K's Up". Kid Rock mentions Ben Davis slacks in his song "American Bad Ass" from the 2000 album The History of Rock. Its major competitor is Dickies.
Ben Davis is run by his son Frank, who was interviewed in a 1995 Grand Royal magazine article.
The logo of the brand is a smiling gorilla which has been said[by whom?] to be the inspiration for the xlarge clothing logo, also a gorilla.
At one time[when?] the tags on Ben Davis items read "Union Made Plenty Tough" although this has now been changed to "USA Made Plenty Tough" as they had a dispute with the union workers.[1]
