Businessman
Russell Simmons has teamed up with menswear designer Joseph Abboud to relaunch the Argyleculture menswear label with
a new collection to be released for Autumn/Winter 2014 this year. Simmons has
already tried to launch the label on two other occasions but now he feels as
though he has found his perfect patner in Abboud. Simmons commented that
although the process has been "tough" he thinks it will work out this
time around because they are a right match for each other and both understand
the company's ethos: “Finding the right match is tough. Sometimes it
works, but most of the time it doesn’t. But this is Joseph Abboud.”
Abboud
comments on the new collection, stating that he has given the usual preppy look
his own spin and thinks it is a fresh take on the style. Although it is
somewhat inspired by Ralph Lauren's aesthetic, he thinks the new collection has
something new to bring to the table: “This is like preppy on steroids,
there are a lot of preppy brands out there and no one does traditional preppy
better than Ralph Lauren. But this is more irreverent. The colors are bright
and the styling is aggressive. Traditional preppy has rigid boundaries and this
pushes the envelope.”
Argyleculture
initially launched back in 2008 and Simmons believes those interested in the
brand would be best described as an “urban graduate" who is looking
for something more sophisticated than simply streetwear. As well as
launching the Argyleculture collection, Simmons is also creating a yoga
clothing line named Tantris.
