50 Cent is following in the footsteps of mentor Eminem by launching his own clothing line. He's teaming up with Mark Ecko of Echo Unlimited to license a limited line of menswear that will be in stores in time for the holidays, Ecko told the Associated Press on Friday. The new collection, called the G-Unit Clothing Company, will offer a full line of menswear in the spring, as well as clothes for women and children, leather goods, and watches coming over the next three years. In a nice touch, all items will include the rapper's name in the price; T-shirts, for instance, will retail for $29.50.
''It's not new for a rapper or pop artist to launch a clothing line, '' Ecko told AP, ''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, who included the rapper in an ad campaign long before he became famous, said that 50 Cent ''has an interesting point of view, a clean, crisp sense of style. The simplicity is what will be refreshing to the market.'' No word on whether G-Unit's clothes will be bulletproof.
