NEW YORK — DKNY Jeans plans to rock out this fall.
The company has formed a partnership with Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz to launch a junior sportswear line called Clandestine Industries for DKNY Jeans that will hit selling floors in time for back-to-school. This isn’t Wentz’s first foray into the fashion industry: He started his own boutique clothing line, Clandestine, last year.
“I really just liked making my own clothes and when my fans started taking notice, I thought it would be fun to sell it,” Wentz said during an interview at the DKNY Jeans showroom here.
When the 27-year-old musician says “fans,” he also means certain fashion industry people. At the MTV Video Music Awards last year, Wentz wore a jacket of his own design. Backstage, a man Wentz didn’t know stopped him to admire it. Wentz thanked the individual and walked away.
“Someone I was with said, ‘Dude, do you know who that was? That was Zac Posen,'” he recalled. “So that was pretty cool.”
Executives at DKNY Jeans also took notice of Wentz’s creative ability and signed him on to a partnership in which he works with the DKNY Jeans design team to create Clandestine Industries for DKNY Jeans. The line, which includes graphic T-shirts, dresses, jeans, sweats, skirts and jackets, is fully inspired by Wentz. The colors are all mostly dark, such as the black leather jackets and dark-indigo denim jeans, but there is a bright pink pop of color found throughout on jacket linings and some T-shirts. There’s a graphic print T-shirt of his pet bulldog, Hemingway, who tours with the band regularly, and other prints inspired by Wentz’s own extensive tattoos.
“I just wanted to partner with someone who was cool and fun,” Wentz said of his decision to sign with DKNY Jeans. “And I really do like what they do, I know the brand, I wear the brand. It’s cool.”
Although executives declined to give first-year sales projections of the new line, they said Wentz was signed on to do one collection. They are open to continuing the partnership if it sells well.
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“This is a first for the brand, and it couldn’t be a more perfect fit,” said Janice Sullivan, president of the Liz Claiborne Inc.-owned DKNY Jeans division. “Not only is Pete Wentz the first name in music right now, he has an innate designer’s eye and a similar aesthetic to DKNY Jeans.”
The firm will support the launch with a national print ad campaign, which will include the DKNY Jeans line. It also plans a fashion show in association with Los Angeles Fashion Week this month. Wentz, who calls Los Angeles home, will style the presentation.
The collection wholesales from $19.50 for a T-shirt to $149 for a leather jacket. DKNY Jeans is targeting its existing accounts such as Macy’s, Dillard’s, Carson’s and Bon Ton to carry the new brand, which opens to buyers today.
Wentz still produces his own Clandestine Industries line, which is sold online at clandestineindustries.com.
Fall Out Boy’s second album, “Infinity on High,” which was just released, has been praised by music critics and is at the top of the Billboard 200.