The South Butt is a clothing business originally conceived of by college freshman Jimmy Winkelmann Jr.. Jimmy created The South Butt LLC in 2007 while he was a student at Chaminade College Prep. When asked, Winkelmann said the idea for The South Butt was born when he and his high school pals were poking fun at the kids at their private high school who satisfied their need to belong by buying the exact same jackets and vests. "People thought it was so cool to wear The North Face fleeces," he said. "Everybody had to have them." The term "South Butt" started as a joke, he said, and "then it just, like, escalated."

The start-up funds for The South Butt totaled less than $5,000 and came from Jimmy's personal savings and a matching contribution from his father. His first-year annual revenue was $4,900. Mr.Winkelmann said he turned a profit of about $4,000 the first year, most of which went back into inventory. Winkelmann's target market is college students. The small company specializes in jackets, shirts and shorts and has received a great deal of publicity due to its controversial logo that is, according to Winklemann, a parody of The North Face clothing company. The South Butt company sells products with the tag line, "Never Stop Relaxing," a parody of The North Face line, "Never Stop Exploring."

In August of 2009 Winkelmann received a letter from the multibillion dollar corporation which owns The North Face brand threatening legal action unless he stopped selling his products immediately. Winkelmann publicized the letter maintaining that The South Butt was a parody and no one would confuse it with The North Face. Winkelmann offered to sell The South Butt brand to The North Face for 1 million dollars, but after no response from The North Face and rapidly increasing sales he rescinded the offer.

On December 10th 2009 The North Face filed a lawsuit for trademark infringement and dilution in the U.S. district court for the eastern district of Missouri. The case was due to go to trial on April 2nd 2010 but was settled out of court, ironically, on April 1st 2010.

The most recent post on South Butt's Facebook page states that Jimmy Winkelmann (the founder and owner of The South Butt) was "partying hard in Panama City with South Butt" when he heard the news of this settlement. Jimmy immediately began handing out South Butt merchandise in celebration. The South Butt website is still up and running continuing to add new products to its line.

On April 9th 2010 the following was posted by the Associated Press.

"ST. LOUIS — The North Face Apparel Corp. has settled its lawsuit against The South Butt, a Missouri teenager's company that marketed clothing with a not-so-subtle logo and tag line that parodied the outdoor clothing giant. Terms were not disclosed in the settlement agreement entered Friday in U.S. District Court in St. Louis, but The South Butt was still offering its T-shirts, fleece jackets, backpacks and sweat shirts on its Web site Friday afternoon. "The matter has been amicably resolved between the parties," said Albert Watkins, the normally loquacious attorney for The South Butt. He declined further comment.

When asked if South Butt products were still for sale, Watkins said, "Why yes, they are."