Von Dutch: Behind the Brand

The next time an 18-wheel transport truck glides past you on the highway, take a peak at what the driver's wearing. He may just be sporting next season's hottest threads.

Thanks to the white-trash fashion trend, perpetuated by celebrities like Britney Spears and Paris Hilton (and let's not forget Kid Rock, although he might not realize it), wife-beater shirts and trucker hats have become the most sought-after item since the Ugg boot. At the forefront of this craze sits monster label Von Dutch, named after an influential L.A car customizer and celebrity in his own right. Not that most trucker hat-wearing fashion plates would know about the man behind the brand.

The craze started last year, after Justin Timberlake was spotted wearing a Von Dutch hat to a Grammy after-party. Fred Durst, Ashton Kutcher, Britney Spears and other celebrities quickly followed suit, and the hats were quickly snatched off shelves while still warm.

Von Dutch Originals, founded in 1999, provides white-trash fiends everywhere with greaser-chic jeans, skinny T-shirts and motorcycle jackets, but it's the wide-billed, foam-front trucker's hat that has elevated the label to its current God-like status.

The hats are made from a variety of fabrics, including terrycloth, velvet, leather, denim and even faux Dalmatian fur (Cruella DeVille is somewhere scoffing). Each design is limited to a run of 1,000, which both fuels demand and explains why you might have to wait 5 years to cover your noggin' with certain styles.

Although the company may appear relatively new, it's rooted in some interesting history. Von Dutch the artist, whose real name was Kenny Howard, was the father of the 1960s "kustom car" craze. He virtually invented the freestyle pin-striping and painted flames that became signature of the Southern California car subculture, and had a signature logo--a bloodshot winged eyeball which is now visible on most Von Dutch merchandise.

Controversial throughout most of his life, he died in 1992 and his daughters sold the rights to his name four years later to Michael Cassel, an entrepreneur who wanted to open a business that would appeal to the hot rod crowd. A few years later, Cassel entered into a partnership with Tonny Sorensen, a Tae Kwon Do world-champion who was a fan of the artist and took over the reins as the CEO of the company.