The Endless Flow of Russell Simmons
Posted by Jason Better on Sep 3, 2010 6:43 pm
Source: Entrepreneur.com | Author: Josh Dean
The hip-hop impresario and multimedia baron lives and breathes opportunity.
Russell Simmons pulls back his Yankees cap, zeroing in on the finer points of preppy style.
"This sweater's fly," he says, tugging at an argyle sweater vest in a harlequin of yellow, purple and melon. Then his eye falls on a more basic model. "This," he says, "could be Brooks Brothers."
And not in a good way. The hip-hop mogul is reviewing samples for one of his latest startups, a men's clothing line for Macy's called Russell Simmons Argyle Culture. In February, he debuted a second, less expensive line that's sold--to the chagrin of some fans--exclusively at Wal-Mart. The idea, Simmons says, is no less than an "initiative to dress America at every price point."
Argyle is a key element in his plot for sartorial domination--but not just any argyle. Simmons, 51, has made millions by identifying woefully underserved markets--in music, film, television, jewelry, fashion and even banking--and then creating businesses precisely tailored to those needs. This time, the market is what he calls "the urban graduate," the educated member of the hip-hop generation who has a good job, and perhaps a family, and is officially too old for Rocawear or even Phat Farm, the clothing company he started and sold in 2004 for a tidy $114 million.
That brings Simmons to this studio high above Broadway at the Manhattan headquarters of the Li & Fung Group, the clothing manufacturing goliath. Like all of his ventures, American Classics is a reflection of Simmons' style and taste, and so it is Simmons himself vetting the polo shirts, V-necks, oxfords and sweater vests, with occasional commentary from his brother Joey, also known as Rev. Run of Run-DMC. As always, the idea is to carefully calibrate the brand so that it is distinct--in this case, from every other preppy brand dressing middle America. Oh, and almost everything has to retail for $15 or less.
Simmons points approvingly at the splashes of color on a teal sweater with a polo collar. "Tommy's not doing this. Ralph's not doing this."
Tommy Hilfiger and Ralph Lauren also aren't at Wal-Mart, a major retailer that's gaining market share at a time when others' are shrinking or disappearing. It looks like yet another sharp move in a career that has been full of them. But truth is, the line has been in the works for more than a year, the natural outcome of the way Simmons looks at the world and sees opportunity. Spend a day with Simmons--diving in and out of meetings, splicing in phone calls and casual conversations--and you begin to understand his broad-ranging business genius, and why the mix is ever changing.
Click here to read the entire article
Views: 97
| 
Comments: 0