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. Ben Davis shirts have been shown in the 1992 "Let Me Ride" video from the artist Dr. Dre, and the Beastie Boys, a New York based hip-hop outfit, have mentioned the brand in their music. 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 & also wears a Ben Davis shirt on his "Friday" music video.
Ben Davis is run by his son Frank, who was interviewed in a 1995 Grand Royal magazine article.
The iconic logo of the brand is a smiling gorilla which has been said to be the inspiration for the xlarge clothing logo, also a gorilla.
At one time the tags on Ben Davis items boasted "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].
