André Benjamin, one half of the LaFace recording duo Outkast, is the man behind the line Benjamin Bixby. Benjamin is derived from his last name but he just plucked from the clouds and stuck with it because he liked it. I haven't heard noise about this line but I have seen some pieces myself and I think the noise is long over due so I'm going to lead the marching band and bring the noise. Benjamin Bixby is a great clothing line that shows the thought process and the vision of the creative director. The collection definitely takes notes from Ralph Lauren's Rugby line but not so much that you can just dismiss it as a replica. It's for a different class of consumer, this is a very distinguished line and wouldn't appeal to everyone at first but the people that it does appeal to are most likely men that dress with a certain distinction. At first I wasn't too thrilled about the appearance of clothing lines with artist and celebrities behind them but then I thought about it like this, the designers that we all have grown to love aren't going to be designing forever, Saint Laurent proved that when he retired in 2002 and now Valentino says that he won't be designing anymore. Sure new creative directors take over the direction of these clothing lines like how Stefano Pilati has stepped up to the throne of YSL. The introduction of designers from other walks of line adds diversity to the industry and I believe this uprising of fashionable celebrities that want to play a role in the fashion industry other than just wearing the clothes is good for consumers. We know it works through the success of lines like Bathing Ape, BBC and Ice Cream who is backed by Pharrell Williams and Sean John by Sean Combs. For now we can only wait to see the initial reaction to the clothes produced by Mr. Benjamin but I only expect good things.
SoHo
