Young Money x Neiman Marcus merchandise launches this Friday.
Lately, musicians have become way more creative with their co-branding and merchandising efforts. Both The Weeknd and G-Eazy had exclusive deals with H&M, until the PR nightmare of “coolest monkey in the jungle.” Desiigner, Migos, and Nirvana can all be found on the graphic tees at rue21. Urban Outfitters sells official merchandise for Drake, Lil Uzi Vert, Migos, Wu-Tang Clan and many other artists. The list feels endless.
Now, Lil Wayne’s joining forces with the high-end retailer, Neiman Marcus, to release a new line of Young Money merchandise. The collection launches tomorrow, February 16th, and will consist of common clothing items such as t-shirts, hats, hoodies, etc.
Here’s the part where I weigh in on the subject…
H&M, rue21, and Urban Outfitters make a lot of sense to me because the clothing’s priced comparably to the average band merchandise. Recently, I stumbled upon a t-shirt featuring J. Cole’s “Dreamville” imprint at Urban Outfitters. The price tag was marked $28, which is the same price that the shirt’s available for on Dreamville’s website. Personally, that’s the maximum amount that I’m willing to spend on a t-shirt. Additionally, Urban Outfitters carries a long sleeve tee with the Death Row Records logo that costs $38. Rue21 sells a lower quality, short sleeve version of the tee with the exact same design for $15.
However, who would go to Neiman Marcus and spend $75 ($90 for long sleeve) on a t-shirt with “Young Money” written on it? That’s where the merchandising strategy stops making sense to me. The majority of Wayne’s fanbase doesn’t fall into the demographic that’s willing to buy a $75 t-shirt. Hoodies and graphic tees are historically general-use casual clothing. I don’t know anyone who spends that much on casual wear.
In my opinion, whatever Lil Wayne fans do have the resources (and desire) to spend $90 on a long sleeve “Young Money” tee, they’re too young and have too much money.
What do you think? Will the clothing line be a big hit or a big swing and a miss?
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