Jazzie B: 'Fashion has been an integral part of what has made Soul II Soul' T-shirt by Soul II Soul - with their signature logo comic Jazzie B - has become a symbol of the club culture in the late 80s and early 90s, when the group has brought a distinctive black British style for the dancefloor. With the full range now republished by Harvey Nichols, Jazzie B reflects on 25 years of the Funki Dred The T-shirts have existed since the dot for us. We've been going since 1977 and was Soul II Soul since 1982. We came up with the project in 1979 - the original is by Derek Yates, who I went to school with. He drew the cartoon T-shirts and we issued in 1990. We came up with the Funki Dred - the idea was we came from a planet called Ard, and we were sent to earth as pleasure-givers, to put on parties and get into the funk. In those days, we were West Indian children who grow up in a country where we did not fit in. We were born in the UK, but nothing in the culture related to us. This was the idea behind the Funki Dred. We were about to be inclusive rather than exclusive, like other subcultures were. We have had elements of fashion, music, culture club. It was not just for blacks British people - it was for everyone. That's why our motto was: "A happy face, a thumpin 'bass, for a lovin' race."