Chippendales
Chippendales is a touring dance troupe best known for its male striptease performances and for its dancers' distinctive upper body costume of a bow tie, collar, and shirt cuffs worn on an otherwise bare torso. Established in 1979, Chippendales was the first all-male stripping troupe to make a business performing for mostly female audiences. Through the quality of its staging and choreography, Chippendales also helped legitimize stripping as a form of popular entertainment. The company produces Broadway-style burlesque shows worldwide and licenses its intellectual property for select consumer products ranging from apparel and accessories to slot machines  and video games. The Chippendales perform in a ten-million-dollar theater and lounge built specifically for them at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Annually, the men of Chippendales are seen by almost two million people worldwide, performing in more than 25 cities in the U.S., 23 cities in Central and South America, 60 European cities, four Asian countries, and eight South African cities. History. Chippendales was founded by India-born Somen "Steve" Banerjee. In 1975, Banerjee bought a failing West Los Angeles bar named Destiny II. In 1979 Banerjeee renamed the bar to "Chippendales  and began hosting exotic dance nights for women, which became a major hit. Banarjee opened clubs in New York, Dallas, and Denver, and three touring troupes toured around the US and Europe. Similar nightclubs soon followed. Banerjee was worried about the competition and attempted to burn down at least three of them. In 1987, Banerjee hired a hit-man named Ray Colon (Colon was actually a close associate to Banerjee) to murder his business partner Nick De Noia. He also plotted to have two other former associates killed. Banerjee was arrested in 1993 for Murder for hire, racketeering, and attempted 	Chippendales
10713489	arson, for which he was sentenced to 26 years on a plea bargain. He hanged himself in his cell a year later. Legal affairs. The company continues to battle similar male revues in the courts. In 1980, Chippendales successfully registered its Cuffs and Collar" uniform as a trademark in 2003, following an agreement between Hugh Hefner and Nahin that was brokered by Playboy model Dorothy Stratten. However, because this registration was based on "acquired distinctiveness", Chippendales filed a subsequent application for the same mark in an effort to have the mark recognized as being inherently distinctive. The Trademark Trial and  Appeal Board affirmed the decision of the examiner that the mark was not inherently distinctive with one member of the panel dissenting. The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board noted that its decision in no way detracted from the rights flowing from the registration in 2003: "However, the fact that the applicant already owns an incontestable registration for the Cuffs & Collar Mark should serve as no small consolation in spite of our decision here." On October 1, 2010, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the decision of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. Nothing in that decision  affected the validity of the 2003 registration. One of the reasons for upholding the decision was the testimony of Chippendales' own expert, who admitted the male dancers' outfits were "inspired" by those of the Playboy Bunny, who also feature a bow-tie and shirt cuffs. In April 2011, St. Joseph, Missouri, police shut down a show by a Chippendales impostor group, alleging that it violated Missouri's adult entertainment laws. Notable dancers and hosts. Former "The Bachelor" fiancée Vienna Girardi hosted the Chippendales' "Ultimate Girls Night Out" in November 2010. Karina Smirnoff of "Dancing with the Stars" hosted the following  month. Ronnie Magro of "Jersey Shore" guest hosted an event in February 2011. It was reported that Jeff Timmons would be performing with the group through the summer. In 2012, Joey Lawrence was a dancer for a special engagement in June at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Former dancers from the inception of the 1980s Chippendales choreographed show include Michael Rapp, John Bernard Richardson, Dean Mammales, Scott Marlowe, and Jonathan Hagan. In popular culture. The 1990 "Saturday Night Live" sketch "Chippendales Audition" featured guest host Patrick Swayze and Chris Farley competing in an audition to  become a Chippendales dancer. In the 1997 English comedy "The Full Monty", the characters' plan to form a striptease group is inspired by the Chippendales. They were featured in the 2000 film "The Chippendales Murder", directed by Eric Bross; and the 2001 film "Just Can't Get Enough". Director Tony Scott was reportedly working on a film about Banerjee and the Chippendales story at the time of his death and Producer Alan Ball is reportedly working on a story loosely based on the deaths surrounding Chippendales which was to start filming in January 2014. In July 2017, it was announced  that Dev Patel is cast as Banerjee and Ben Stiller as De Noia. Production was expected to start in 2018 with a working title of "I am Chippendales" In 2021, Seth Rogen and Elle Fanning were announced to be in talks to join the film, with Craig Gillespie directing. Bollywood actor producer Salman Khan has announced a biopic on Somen Banerjee's life and journey of Chippendales. In 2020, the troupe turned their show into workout videos as an alternative form of entertainment/exercise to people in lockdown and quarantine due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, Amazon Studios and  the streaming service Discovery+ released a four-part documentary series titled "Curse of the Chippendales". The series was created by Oscar and Emmy Award winning producers Simon Chinn and Jonathan Chinn and was written and directed by Jesse Vile.