Asksomeone what the first thing that comes to mind when someone says ‘Chippendales dancers’ is, and usually it’s images of scantily clad men wearing white cuffs and bow ties, stripping for thirsty audiences filled with women. What almost never comes up is that the internationally famous, all-male stripping troupe was the brainchild of Indian-born US entrepreneur Somen “Steve” Banerjee and Paul Snider, a nightclub promoter and the eventual murderer of Playboy model Dorothy Stratten.
Despite the Chippendales still performing to this day in their own theatre in Las Vegas and touring cities annually around the globe, their origin story remains a relative mystery to the masses. But the upcoming drama series Welcome To Chippendales aims to tell the unbelievable story of the violent events that birthed the brand and how it helped shape the cultural, sexual and capitalist landscape in the ’80s and beyond.