Sources report that Justin Bieber’s clothing line sold out in a matter of minutes, which is a testament to the enduring power of the t-shirt and the cheap hotel slipper. Bieber’s new fashion line, “Drew” named for the singing sensation’s middle name, is the latest diversification from the international pop icon. T-shirts, Hoodies, Hotels slippers and a line of khaki corduroy shirts, shorts, long trousers and cordu-hoods were all presented in his new range and took just moments to leave the shelves.
Bieber may not be the first musical icon to take the plunge into fashion, Kanye West dabbled a little himself with his label Yeezy, scoring some interesting criticism along the way but ultimately winning over fans and critics alike; not to be outdone, Justin’s line of casual wear tees, long sleeve t-shirts and hoodies dropped and was shopped almost as quickly.
In a similar fashiony vein to Kanye West, The Beeb took the plunge with a limited range of hoodies and tees in basic black, red and peach, all emblazoned with a gigantic Drew logo which is the company’s brand. The Drew website explains that all these items were ethically produced in Los Angeles, a knowing nod to the values-led mindset of many of his generation. His design team re-invigorated the tried and tested smiley logo for the brand logo itself and, although there isn’t much originality behind the idea of a smiley face, we agree that it works for both its simplicity as well as its instant recognition appeal.
The crown jewel in this simple apparel range must be the the “Smiley Hotel Slippers,” which are exactly that, one pair of one-size-fits-all simple cotton slippers with a giant smiley Drew logo embroidered on the front. Again, not exactly ground breaking by any means, but sufficient to identify the wearer as a “True Belieber” and devout follower of all things Justin. The corduroy range was a questionable choice which raised one or two eyebrows around the design studio at SpectraUSA, but no one could argue that the Beeb nailed another number one hit when we got around to discussing just how fast those togs sold out. In fact, there simply isn’t a stitch to be had over at Drew, which is surprising given the high cost of many of the items for which Justin Bieber has drawn a fair bit of fire from his critics. A long sleeve t-shirt with logo for $58.00, a short sleeve tee for $48, a hoodie for $98, seems a little, wellÛ_ cheeky. Although some say that the $5.98 price tag on the slippers was the one item they definitely got right.
Creating a brand and building an apparel range behind it, as anyone who has done it can testify, is no laughing matter. So kudos to the Beeb for getting his toe in the water and having a go at something like fashion which, traditionally, is not his area. However, when you are looking for premium quality t-shirts and hoodies to drop your brand on to, we’d recommend having a gander at SpectraUSA’s full range of Hoodies, Long sleeve and short sleeve t-shirts in men’s, ladies and unisex styles and colorways. SpectraUSA has been helping brand engineers, marketers and printers create epic branded apparel built on truly great t-shirt canvases. We utilize made in America yarns and dyes across our range of apparel, with a number of exclusively designed and manufactured in the USA garments to boot.
Although, it must be said, we don’t carry cheap hotel slippers, which we feel is better left to the cheap hotels, and where we draw our line in apparel sand, so to speak.