After ventures in print, radio and television, The Source Magazine is expanding again, this time in the form of a fashion clothing line. The line is the union between The Source and AST Sportswear meant to shape an exclusive collection of branded sportswear.
Dave Mays said that he intends for the line to arrive in stores nationwide just in time for the 2003 fall school year. (Ironically, Eminem and Ice-T stated that they would also aim to release clothing lines during the same period.) The Source collection will target lower end retail outlets like JC Penney and Target chains instead of higher end specialty chains that most rap lines have sought.
“It’s part of the brand expansion of The Source. The vision of my company is to take the magazine and build it into the Time Warner of the hip-hop generation,” Mays said to the New York Post.
Mays said that his line will be considerably cheaper than other couture fashion lines, capitalizing on a market he considers untapped thus far.
“Most established hip-hop lines have made a business by staying out of those stores,” he continued. “We’ll be the premium brand in the JC Penney’s of the world. We’ll be significantly less expensive than the top urban brands.
Hip-hop fashion staples “Groovey Lew” Jones and P.Diddy’s ex Misa Hylton-Brim will act at the line’s creative directors.
