Grammy: Mixing Music and Fashion
The Grammy Awards is no longer just an awards show. Beginning this fall, the Grammy brand will extend into clothing, footwear, jewelry and accessories through a number of partnerships with mostly West Coast companies and designers.
The Recording Academy, which runs the annual awards show honoring the music industry’s best, launched the Grammy brand at the recent Project Global Trade Show in Las Vegas. The venture aims to enhance the Grammy Foundation and MusiCares, two charities affiliated with The Recording Academy. Portions of proceeds will benefit the charities.
The lines will launch in October and November with about 70 SKUs through a number of ventures. Duffy & Duffy is coordinating the effort. Designer and filmmaker Michael Eaton is doing high-end hand-painted tees and blazers. JEM/Awake Sportswear is doing organic tees and hoodies, Victor Tanisaka of 3J Workshop (a division of Johnny Was) is designing embroidered shirts and leather jackets, Jackie Saad of Latino Royalty is making leather handbags, Madeline Beth is designing jewel-encrusted purses, and luxury eyewear will come from Franco while shoes are being done by Salpy.
“The Grammys have always been at the intersection of music and fashion, and this collection conveys the passion point of music—how music makes us feel—and therefore appeals to a broad spectrum of male and female fashion-conscious consumers,” said Evan Greene, chief marketing officer for The Recording Academy.
Retail price points range from $50 for JEM’s shirts to $250 for Eaton’s handmade shirts, while his jackets will be priced from $750 to $1,000. The top end of the scale will come via Franco’s diamond-laden sunglasses, which will be priced from $5,000 to $7,000.
The Grammy line will officially launch to retailers Oct. 3 at M.Fredric in Los Angeles. Print advertising, online marketing and a promotion with InStyle are slated to follow, said Greene.
Eaton thinks the marriage of the Grammy brand with clothing will be a hit.
“I’m really excited about it,” said Eaton, whose contribution will give a rock ’n’ roll edge to the blazers and shirts. “For the past 49 years, the Grammys have been an outlet to show off new trends, fashion and style, and now we get to dictate it through our fashion-forward designs. It is already resonating well with music celebs. They love the look and feel of our passionate designs.”
Eaton has partnered with companies such as Gravis, Atticus Clothing and others for his apparel projects. He has also made surfing films for Billabong.
For more information about the Grammy line, e-mail mduffy@duffy2.com. —Robert McAllister
