Luther Campbell of 2 Live Crew in his green Miami Hurricanes Starter Jacket

Brand History - Starter

Team DDV — April 29, 2022

Only a few brands shaped streetwear of the 80s and 90s the way Starter did. In 1971, David Beckerman founded the brand in New Haven, Connecticut and in the beginning he sold regular jackets to high schools, softball leagues and bars. However, Beckerman also recognized a gap in the market for professional and college sports.

Through a private contact of an employee to the then-manager of the New York Mets, the MLB team became the first professional team to wear Starter pieces. After convincing the MLB in 1976 give him and his brand licensing rights, the NBA and the NHL joined within two years. Only the NFL took its sweet time, agreeing to a deal only in 1983 after years of rejections.

Legendary QB Joe Montana in his golden San Francisco 49ers Starter jacket

NFL-Coach Pete Carroll in his New England Patriots Starter jacket

Starter managed to do something that no company in the field had managed before. It connected the fans with the players and managed to create an emotional bond to the products for the fans. The satin jackets and caps quickly became the brand's flagships.

Rapper Chuck D in his Las Vegas Raiders Starter Jacket

Rapper Chuck D wearing his Los Angeles Raiders Starter jacket

But what took Starter to the next level, was the fact that icons from the hip-hop scene were wearing their pieces! Funkmaster Flex, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Diddy or Run DMC are just a few examples of those who wore items of the brand and thus set a new trend, especially among the younger population. In combination with the slogan "Look for the Star!", the brand had firmly established itself.

What also brought Starter a lot of popularity were the iconic commercials with the well-known brand ambassadors. We've collected a few of our favorites here:

Due to the ever-growing popularity of Starter, the satin jackets became a real status symbol, which unfortunately also brought a negative side to the trend. In the 90s, cases of young people being attacked and robbed for their Starter jackets increased drastically. Some assaults even ended fatally which caused some schools to ban Starter jackets from their premises. Such incidents caused sales to drop as people began to see the jackets as a risk to their own safety.

In combination with other reasons, in 1999, the company slipped into bankruptcy, which did not lead to the end of the brand though! From 2004 to 2007 Starter was taken over by Nike. In 2007, the Iconix Brand Group bought the brand and has owned Starter ever since. Over these difficult years of transition, the license agreements were not renewed and Starter has only been selling official items for the 4 major US leagues and college basketball teams again since 2013. Since 2019, Starter also has a contract with Coca Cola and is allowed to sell official products of the beverage brand.

You can find more Starter pieces from the 80s and 90s in our store here!