G-Unit Clothing Co., will launch an abbreviated men's line for the holiday season, designer Marc Ecko and Rapper 50 cent are the partners in new collection.
A full men's collection is planned for spring, with womenswear, childrenswear, watches and leather goods planned over the next three years, the designer said this week. Everything will have a 50-cent price point - US$29.50 for a T-shirt,
for example.
"It's not new for a rapper or pop artist to launch a clothing line, but what is new is that a design-driven company like us is partnering with an artist to offer the marketing and merchandising - it's sort of like Nike and (Michael) Jordan coming together for Air Jordan," Ecko told. This isn't their first collaboration - 50 Cent starred in one of Ecko Unlimited's ad campaigns a few years ago.
The 27-year-old rapper - whose album, Get Rich or Die Tryin', was released earlier this year - "has an interesting point of view, a clean, crisp sense of style," Ecko said. "The simplicity is what will be refreshing to the market." Ecko Unlimited will continue to produce its own collection.