The Name

Black N Ugly... It's everything you think it's not. Addressed BU for short, we are raw, uncut and unapologetically bold. Our mission is to represent the generation that we belong to, but transcend the generational gap that has separated us from our elders. It is key that our message communicates the political climate of the past, present, and future. Sherifa Gayle founded BU Clothing in 2011 with this very vision. She wanted to embody the passion and pain of our former and current struggle as a collective, while highlighting our achievements and encouraging our future endeavors: all through aesthetics, textile, and concepts.

Grit has always been our motivation, roses growing from concrete and grapes becoming aged wine. As a collective we have transgressed hate and fear, and made everything out of the nothing we've been given. We have made "The Phoenix Affect" our reality for centuries, so it isn’t hard to conceive why the word "black  and ugly" has become a conundrum. A string of words that were used against us that we in-turn used to describe ourselves needed to be re owned. Sherifa took the phrase remolded it and gave it back to US. Very similar to so many other phrases we have cured: she did the same so that the "The term" can only be referenced on OUR terms. 

Black N Ugly will be used to reference our power, our genius and our spirit. As the darkest soil is the richest and most fertile, so are we. "Black and Ugly however..." so many words can be used to complete the infamous Biggie quote as only we know the true meaning of being the targeted divine. At Black N Ugly we are fueling the positivity with the abundance of negativity that we've been handed. So, make a statement and always B(be) U(you), what's life without some irony?


B.U. Clothing - LookBook SHOOT '16 - HARLEM USA-SD (1) from Sherifa Gayle on Vimeo.