By Brittany Hutson
Nowadays, when music artists get the itch to step away from the industry and dive into the world of entrepreneurship, it’s pretty much no surprise that their first venture is a clothing line. But according to Kristin Bentz, retail analyst and president of Talented Blonde, LLC, “the era of the celeb-designer is close to being over, if not already. When the recession hit, so many rappers/actors/personalities rushed to get licensing deals. So now we are overrun at retail with the remnants of rappers past.”
We collaborated with Bentz to critique some of hip-hop’s hottest lines that are still memorable today, not only for their sales, but also for their massive appeal to consumers and demonstrated business savvy on the part of the artist; as well as some of hip-hop’s less memorable brands due to high pricing points, an absence of solid promotion and mismanagement.
Here are Bentz’s picks for fashion lines that have been leaders in the artist-designer arena:
Phat Farm
Russell Simmons was undoubtedly the pioneer of the celeb-designer phenomenon with the launch of Phat Farm in 1992, which combined the urban aesthetics of the streets and the preppy culture of the Ivy League for men. Successful lines such as Phat Farm are “established by tier one rapper/artists that truly have the star power and financial backing to hire superior management teams and designers, as well as [finance] multi-million dollar ad campaigns,” says Bentz. Another example the demonstrates Simmons’ business savvy and why the brand has lasted for nearly two decades was his decision to sell Phat Farm to the Kellwood Company in 2004 for $140 million. “Brands are sold to large publicly-held companies that know how to merchandise, manage and promote a brand much better than the celebs who own the company are able to.”
Rocawear
Established in 1999 off of the success of Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter, Rocawear quickly became the destination brand for street savvy consumers. Initially offering young men’s sportswear, the brand expanded into other avenues, which today includes a line for children, juniors, socks, handbags and belts, big & tall, headwear, jewelry, men and ladies footwear, ladies intimates and men’s loungewear/underwear. The line has annual retail sales of $700 million and has become an international brand with offices in the UK, Japan, Canada, Europe, Korea, Middle East and Russia.
“[Rocawear] is one of the best brands since it is able to stand on its own and not be dependent on the success or status of the celeb,” notes Bentz. She also says the best move for the line was when Jay-Z sold Rocawear to Iconix Brand Group, an award winning leader in promotion, in 2007 for $204 million, though he still owns stakes in the company and maintains control over marketing, licensing and product development.
Baby Phat
What first began as a tiny tee with the name Baby Phat (an acronym for “pretty, hot and tempting”) produced to electrify a Phat Farm runway show has become a premier brand for urban female consumers. The line launched in 1998 and was led by Kimora Lee Simmons, whose ability to merge high fashion with hip-hop proved to be a winning strategy for the brand. Like its “sibling” Phat Farm, Baby Phat was sold in 2004 to Kellwood Co. for $140 million and the brand expanded into other products including footwear, outerwear, accessories, handbags and lingerie.
Most up-to-date generated sales for the line is estimated to be near $980 million. But in August 2010, Simmons was ousted as Baby Phat’s creative director for reasons that were not confirmed though Simmons, who admitted that the move was “unexpected,” said she was moving on to focus on other ventures. Bentz notes that the continued success of Baby Phat as a brand has been due to Simmons’ “huge loyal following” and the fact that she “understood to lower the price points during the recession.”
Sean John
This award-winning fashion line launched in 1998 with its debut of men’s sportswear for the spring 1999 season and since then, the brand has branched out and includes a men’s suits and fragrance line, a big & tall and boys collection, accessories, and a women’s line. Presently, annual retail sales for Sean John in the U.S. are over $525 million. Sean John, says Bentz, continues to be prosperous because Diddy has “maintained his credibility and has surpassed the rapper-designer genre by going on to different endeavors. It was a stepping stone towards his growing popularity and business empire.” Even though Sean John’s flagship store in New York City shut down at the end of 2010, Combs scored a win last spring when he signed an exclusive distribution deal with Macy’s for his spring 2011 collection.
Here are Bentz’s picks for the fashion lines that didn’t quite measure up to the success of their competitors above:
G-Unit
In 2004, 50 Cent formed a joint partnership with designer Marc Ecko, founder of Ecko Unlimited, for his G-Unit Clothing line. What was unique about this collaboration was that Ecko wouldn’t handle the designing of the clothing, but rather the marketing and merchandising. Although the partnership generated $100 million in retail sales, production ceased in 2009. There’s been talk of 50 relaunching the brand but nothing has been verified as of yet. Bentz notes that though G-Unit had “serious street cred” at the onset, the shaky partnership between 50 and Ecko (“the splitting up and then getting together”) wasn’t healthy for the brand.
Apple Bottoms
Apple Bottoms exploded on the fashion scene in 2003 as a lifestyle brand for women devised by Nelly, Yomi Martin and Ian Kelly. The brand first garnered popularity due to Nelly’s nationwide model search for the “Apple Bottoms Girl,” which was televised on VH-1, and according to the website, jeans sold out completely within two weeks. In 2004, Apple Bottoms partnered with Picked Fresh, LLC, a division of ICER Brands, to further develop the brand, which now includes handbags, footwear, plus sizes, jewelry, girls wear and infant apparel. Says Bentz, “I think [Apple Bottoms] was a great brand when it came out—it has a cute name and he capitalized on the black female consumer and their love for their butts…” Despite this, she said it seems the fever surrounding Apple Bottoms has died down. “It was like another revenue stream for him as a rapper and that’s what separates the weak from the [triumphant].”
Fetish
After playing the role of a fashion designer on her television series, Eve took a chance in reality and in 2003 launched her line Fetish, a line of urban sophisticated clothes for juniors and women. Unfortunately for Eve, she hasn’t seen much success in fashion. She’s had three failed partnerships with manufacturers, mainly due to clashes between the opposing parties about what the brand’s concept should be. In 2009, the rapper turned actress shut down the clothing line due to “legal reasons.”
Bonus: Bentz’s comments for some brands that, while reasonably successful, don’t contain all the ingredients for an all-round superior brand:
The Billionaire Boys Club & Ice Cream
Pharrell launched these two luxury streetwear clothing brands in 2005 through a partnership with Japanese fashion icon Nigo, the founder of A Bathing Ape (BAPE). Though it was launched in 2005, prior to that time, the brand suffered setbacks as a result of disputes between the producer and Reebok, who was originally set to release the line. While Bentz describes the line as “gorgeous and really sophisticated,” she says she fears that “the price points are a bit too high for its target market.” Nonetheless, the brand is still holding steady with a collection on the way for spring/summer 2011.
House of Deréon
Beyoncé and her mother Tina Knowles introduced House of Deréon in 2004 which was inspired by Tina’s late mother Agnez Deréon. Despite getting media attention on The Oprah Winfrey Show and Tyra, it’s been said that the clothing line hasn’t connected very well with female consumers. “Everything Beyoncé touches turns to gold and it’s a logical extension for her but it’s kind of random,” says Bentz. “It’s very high fashion and the price point is a little high.” In 2006, Beyoncé and sister Solange launched the junior line Deréon for younger consumers, which is said to have more reasonable price points. Even though the line is clearly performing since she was recently named a top-earning celebrity by Forbes, Bentz still believes either the line is not getting the marketing dollars it deserves or is unsure about who their target consumer is.
