Clipse start Play Cloths Clothing line

[Re Up Gang]

Clipse, the Virginia Beach-based rap group whose 2006 album, “Hell Hath No Fury,” ended up on several critics’ best-of-the-year lists, is venturing into a new domain: fashion. The sibling duo Pusha T. and Malice, have officially launched a line called Play Cloths.

Bold, rich colors feature prominently, said Pusha Thursday. He took his scrapbook of inspirations to Virginia designers, who helped him develop the pieces. T-shirts will be the staple of the line initially, with denims, jackets, sweatshirts and knits figuring in later.

“It’s based around the idea of when clothes were collectables,” he said. “It represents youth and influence.”
Clipse, who plan to release an album next summer, said they’ll promote the clothing line at the fashion trade show Magic in Las Vegas in February. Pusha declined to comment on price, but said Play Cloths will only be carried at select boutiques. That’s the same strategy used by their friend and producer Pharrell Williams of Virginia Beach, who oversees the lines Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream.

Williams and Clipse cemented their reputations as trendsetters after they almost single-handedly imported and popularized the Japanese cult clothing brand A Bathing Ape. Clipse copycats became so ubiquitous that their armies of “Mini-mes” inspired the group to write a song, “Mr. Me Too.”