It goes without saying in the world of street and contemporary fashion that some of the hottest little guys are getting big offers from corporations that once had their eyes set on urbanwear. As we reported last week, when Alyasha Owerka-Moore said in his interview with Label Networks TV (see last week’s feature “Fiberops Introduce a New Version of Rockabilly/Psychobilly Inspired Designs in Denim, Shirts, + Jackets for the “New Traditionalists” in Gentlemen’s Clothing,”), “There’s a running joke that streetwear is the new urbanwear,” he wasn’t that far off as corporations that once bought-up urbanwear brands are now turning to streetwear. Artful Dodger, the core streetwear label that has Buckingham Palace-type guards in front of their booth at MAGIC International Fashion Trade Show each season, is reported to have been bought by Iconix Brand Group, the rather large corporation that has purchased 13 brands including OP last year and Jay-Z’s Rocawear for a reported $204 million in April.

What’s not known yet is for how much, and what’s going to happen to the “Dodger.” When Iconix bought OP last year, the surf industry was aghast when they announced the pioneering ‘70’s iconic surf brand would be sold at Wal-Mart in early ’08. Artful Dodger, which started in ’05 by Sean John’s top design director at the time, Scott Langton and partner Richard Wu, created Artful Dodger based on English-character gangsters (think Oliver Twist’s “Dodger” character) mixed with graphics that detailed various stories—even on denim jeans. They became such leaders in streetwear, particularly for their designs and boldness to do all-over print on denim, that they also had the unfortunate problem of people copying their style. This resulted in a very limited collection on display at shows like Agenda, and the faux-guards at shows like Magic: Unless you were a top buyer that they knew, and you’d secured an appointment, could you enter their kingdom of cool.

While it’s not yet known exactly what’s going to happen with the brand (it’s presumed that Scott Langton will stay on board and start a women’s collection and seek licensing deals), it does solidify the growing trend that corporations that once were enraptured by the urbanwear market, are now moving into streetwear.