Here’s the report, courtesy of USA Today, with a tip of the hat to The Basketball Jones:
On the heels of a stunning Game 1 victory over the Dallas Mavericks Tuesday night and on the brink of a possible first championship, NBA MVP, business mogul and fashion icon LeBron James has announced that he will launch a new, modern luxury concept store in Miami for fall 2011. The store, which will open with a mix of apparel, footwear, printed materials and lifestyle accouterments, with featured brands to include A.P.C., Original Fake and Nike Tier 0 product, will be called Unknwn.
The Jones’ Trey Kirby points out that this store, featuring high-quality streetwear with 50% less vowels than you’d have to deal with at similarly-named stores, could actually be a good idea:
This is a very good idea. Not only is everything in streetwear huge right now, LeBron’s got some great brands signed on. A.P.C. is one of the best denim makers in the world, Original Fake is one of the premier artist-driven brands around and Nike Tier Zero stuff is the fanciest Nike gear you can buy, plus there are sure to be other big-time brands available. (A.P.C. and Original Fake have both done collaborations with the Swoosh, so it’s no surprise they’re being offered at LeBron’s store.) In a city that doesn’t have a super high-end streetwear retailer, this store should do very well.
Considering that LRMR still isn’t drawing very many clients and its overhead has to be higher than LeBron’s vertical leap, it’s nice that LeBron is embarking on a business venture that actually sounds like a good idea. And it’s nice to see that LeBron may actually be learning useful things from his highly-publicized relationship with Jay-Z.
But even still, couldn’t this announcement have waited until the Heat win three more games and actually win the Finals, or a week or two after the Finals if they lose? I’m not a huge believer in superstition, but this seems like (no pun intended) a bad karma move from the league’s best player.
