Hip-hop mogul Damon Dash is adding another element to his expanding empire.
Dash, chief executive officer of Damon Dash Enterprises, has entered into a licensing agreement with Stride Rite Corp. to produce and distribute men’s, women’s and children’s apparel under the Pro-Keds brand. Dash plans to launch the line to the trade at the MAGIC show in Las Vegas in February. It will be in stores next summer.
“I always knew this would happen. The clothes are always supposed to match the sneakers, so it was just a matter of time,” Dash said. “The apparel will have the same fresh ideas that have made Pro-Keds sneakers so successful in the past couple of years.”
Consumers can eventually expect two lines, one more urban in feeling and set at a lower price point and the other more “retro and higher priced,” he said.
Dash, who has licensed the Pro-Keds brand from Stride Rite since 2004, was awarded the Crystal Shoe Award from the Two-Ten Footwear Foundation earlier this month. The award was given in tribute to his work on the revitalization of the brand, which moved from an $8 million business to a $22 million business in the past year. Pro-Keds first launched in 1949 by Keds as an athletic footwear line primarily aimed at basketball.
Besides Pro-Keds, Damon Dash Enterprises also owns Rachel Roy, State Property, Armadale vodka and Dash’s new men’s line, CEO Collection.