[tbeer22]

Hip hop has become so popular among suburban kids for a simple reason. Mass marketing and the fact that suburban kids feel if they emulate or associate with hip hop they are cool. But I consider all that stuff you see on MTV rap not hip hop. Rap is just a bunch of hooks put over a beat to sound more like a pop song that people can sing along too.

If you really want to capitalize off hip hop you have to realize the culture thats emerging. Because of Myspace and viral marketing, undergound hip hop is becoming popular. Skate boarding clothing and hip hop clothing are becoming one and are known as "streetwear". go to www.digitalgravel.com or www.karmaloop.com and you will see the clothing lines I'm talking about. LRG is the best example of this. True hip hop heads don't want to wear ECKO and all these other mainstream brands, because everyone else wears it. True hip hop heads want to make fashion statements while expressing themselves.

Streetwear is really the only way I can see you capitalizing off hip hop at this point, because everything else is so saturated. But like MsNadi said, create a new product that the hip hop culture will accept and you will be stacking a lot of dough...

[MsNadi]

Have Had Lasting Power
Rocawear (despite being tacky as all hell...HAHA)
Ecko (started in the early days)
Enyce (now a Liz Claiborne company)

Have NOT Had Lasting Power
Vokal (Despite being endorsed by Nelly)
Snoops' line of clothing...whatever it was called.

It's like the Premium Denim Market:
Why has Seven For All Mankind managed to stay on top, along with Citizens of Humanity and True Religion...while other brands like Antik Denim, despite having massive celebrity push, were unable to succeed. It's not the price, because all three had similar price points (ranging from $140 - $300+ for JEANS). It's not the marketing because the teams involved in Seven's launch were also involved in Antik's launch.

Fashion is fickle, yet powerful.

I don't know much about it (although my roommate does) - but if you can tap in, its HUGE.

I'd say the best bet is the crossover - companies that are able to appeal to the "new direction" of hip hop and skating. Companies like Zoo York and 686 who have an underground feel with massive popularity (and are endorsed by famous folks like Pharrell, Jay-Z and Kanye).

[ventor]

Originally Posted by NottiCorp

For example..........

Sean John, Rocawear, ECKO, LRG, Akademiks......

Delisted = Cross Colors, Fubu ----> where are they now? Even Tommy has made a noticeable decline in the urban sector.

ECKO’s G-Unit and Zoo York line are two lines to follow that are younger than five years old. (if my memory serves me correct)

[MsNadi]

LRG and Akademiks are relatively new brands, yea? Been around for leess than 5 years?

Cross Colours? SO SAD!!! HAHA...that was the "isht" bacin the eighties and nineties, and then it just DISAPPEARED.

Zoo York has been around since like '93. No longer "new".

[bjgomer13]

I think as far as Hip-Hop in the suburbs goes it's all about suburban kids trying to have an Edge. I have a lot of experience and knowledge about this sort of stuff because I grew up a bad neighborhood but now I live in the pasty suburbs as an adult.

Basically it comes down to being perceived as "soft" or not. Meaning if I'm a kid from the suburbs and I want to put off an heir that I am cool, or that I am intimidating, or different from all the "soft" people in the suburbs, then I wear hip hop clothing. Whether or not these perceptions are true is debatable but the fact is that mainstream, whitebread, suburban america is afraid of this look and of these types. That's what makes these macho stereotypes cool. The second that corporate types start pushing a hip hop brand, it loses these cool perceptions. Before you spout off brands like rocawear keep in mind that although these labels are very corporate, the perception in the hip hop community is that they are still cool but kind of a watered down branding...meaning no longer on the bleeding edge of hip hip.

So to answer your question of how to make money....rule #1: if you're caucasian, you can never let your customers see you...even the white ones. That alone will immediately will discredit your street cred. Mark Ecko is the exception, not the rule...rule #2: Stay on the bleeding edge, which means you have to immerse yourself into the hip hop world. Making Tall tees now is not bleeding edge, neither is airbrushing air force ones....hip hop is ALL ABOUT EDGE. EDGE. EDGE. EDGE. listen to the music...it's always about how I AM BETTER THAN YOU AND HERE IS WHY. Your product must convey that. Rule #3 be visible in the streets....a lot of people think hip hop fashions start with celebs and SOMETIMES it does...but more often than not, it starts in the streets...meaning tha hood...if you are gonna make any money in the hip hop business and your product is not in tha hood (i call it 'tha hood' not because i'm trying to talk street but that's what it is. that's what people who live there call it and you have to acknowledge things like this if you want to step in this world and make money. that is a fact. If you're the type of person who thinks it's below you to use a term like that, then maybe selling dockers or st. john's bay products is more up your alley) you CANNOT be successful in this industry. Period. It all ends and begins there.

[WanganRunner]

I'm not sure I'd ever want to actually start my own venture in clothing....seems wildly unpredictable.

I think it's a great area to be a VC or angel in though. Doesn't take much money to get it started, relatively speaking, but if you hit a home run you can have hundreds of millions.

Not to mention that most fashion designers are probably shitty negotiators, so I bet you could fleece 'em when it comes to the terms and end up owning their hides 3 years later when the whole thing is a success. LOL, am I the only one who thinks like this?

[ventor]

I was rocking LRG and Akademiks roughly about 5 years ago.... It's possible that they did not have nationaly distribution at the time.... I lived in NYC and Akademiks were everywhere.... my boy would get LRG's from the west coast.

I stand corrected with Zoo York. I have only been paying attention to them for the past two years.

But not to stray off topic, there are many variables to consider with urban clothing lines. At one time, expensive meant exclusive. I have been personally watching a trend where not so expensive is becoming acceptable.

First case in point.... $15 sneakers. I personally purchased 6 pairs and judging by the other shoppers in the store..... it was cool. 6 pairs for under $100..... Im slowly turning into my father

Second case in point.... white tees. As much as I hated the song, last summer white tees became a national phenomenon. And last time I checked you can get 5 white tees at Champs or Footlocker for $20.

Is simple the new hotness? Who knows....

I will agree with MsNadi in saying that the urban fashion game is very fickle.

But it is driven by 16-24 yrs olds and everyone knows that they are the strongest purchasing force in the universe.

[Wally_Vegas]

Cross Colours and Karl Kani in the early 90's......ah the good old days