| Socks
from the Arthur George by Robert Kardashian
collection, $30. |
 |
Rob
Kardashian has taken his first toe-dip into the fashion
arena, following in the footsteps of celebrity siblings
Kim, Khloe and Kourtney, who’ve used their reality TV
fame — and family name — as a launch pad into myriad
endorsement deals, clothing collections and fragrance
formulations.
But
instead of going big, the lowest-profile member of the
family (whose biggest gig to date outside of
"Keeping Up With the Kardashians" was a
memorable stint on Season 13 of "Dancing With the
Stars") has started small — but loud — with a
colorful collection of men’s dress socks that debuted
at Neiman Marcus in time for the holiday season.
The
Arthur George by Robert Kardashian collection consists
of some 37 styles of brightly colored, boldly patterned
cotton-nylon-Spandex blend socks made in Italy. They are
festooned with camouflage, zebra patterns and graffiti,
emblazoned with polka dots, geometrics and assorted
stripes and adorned with a sea of symbols such as
horseshoes and briefcases.
Following
the model of charity initiatives such as Toms Shoes and
Warby Parker eyeglasses, for each pair of $30 socks
sold, a pair of socks will be donated to the Hayward,
Calif.-based nonprofit Family Emergency Shelter
Coalition.
Taken
altogether, the line as a whole feels a bit loud for the
shirt-and-tie crowd, but a single pair peeking from the
ankle of a perfectly hemmed pair of dress pants dilutes
the effect to something closer to an appropriate dash of
just-gotta-be-me attitude. (And, let’s be honest,
should we expect anything less from a member of America’s
first family of focus-pulling?)
The
debut offerings seem to be resonating at the register.
Neiman Marcus declined to provide specific sales
figures, but a representative said the firm had been
"very pleased with the response to the line."
And plans are already afoot to expand in a spring
collection to additional retailers and a dedicated
e-commerce website, AGSocks.com, set to launch Feb. 1.
In
early January, the only non-alliteratively named
Kardashian decamped to a padded leather banquette at the
Bob’s Big Boy in Burbank — sans posse, PR handlers
or camera — to talk socks, the family name and what he’s
been up to lately.
Wearing
baggy gym shorts, a T-shirt from streetwear brand the
Hundreds that shows inked forearms (much of it the
artwork of friend and tattoo artist Mr. Cartoon) and a
blue L.A. Dodgers baseball cap, the 25-year-old hardly
cuts the figure of a fledgling fashionista. Then he
starts talking.
"For
the last few months, I’ve been doing all fashion all
the time," he says with a boyish enthusiasm.
"Swatches, swatches, swatches. I’ve been tweaking
the packaging on the socks, I’ve been tweaking the
length, I’ve been going over designs — we’re
adding men’s boxers and pajama bottoms next season, as
well as women’s tights and leggings."
There
are several reasons he started with men’s socks. One
is personal.
"I
personally have a thing for socks — they’re
something I’ve always been fixated on, even when I was
playing sports or working out. If you look at pictures
of me at (Khloe and Lamar Odom’s) wedding, you’ll
see I was wearing colorful socks."
Another
is simple business strategy.
"There
aren’t a lot of competitors in the sock
business," he said. "You’ve got Happy Feet
and you’ve got Paul Smith, but to be honest, when it
comes to high-end dress socks, are there really that
many?"
The
third is a desire to earn his stripes. "This is
really just my way of getting my foot in the door,"
he says. "I’m building a brand and I’ll
eventually be doing other things. But I felt like I
needed to start out at the bottom — literally."
That’s
why he named the line Arthur George. Arthur is his
middle name; George the middle name of his late father,
O.J. Simpson lawyer Robert Kardashian.
"Even
though my name is on the packaging too, that was my way
of distancing it — just a little bit — and taking
everybody’s attention away from that whole Kardashian
brand — in a slight, subtle way."
He’s
quick to acknowledge the trade-offs of
Kardashian-konnectedness.
"I’m
very fortunate, and I understand the name recognition,
and I’m appreciative of that," he says.
"(And) I’ve been getting feedback about my women’s
line from my sisters. I was just talking to Khloe today,
and she was giving me some feedback about the leggings.
They’ll say things like you need to worry about this
or that material, or something to remember for girls
with bigger butts."
But
he calls the family’s prominence "a double-edged
sword. People only know what they see on TV, so maybe
they assume negative stuff, or they think I didn’t put
any work into it and just put my name on it."
Kardashian
says he’s got lots of fashion-related irons in the
fire, though he’s reluctant to share the details.
"There are some things I’m working on in the
fashion world where nobody will even know my name is
attached to it," he said. "I’ll be happy
with that. They’ll fail or succeed on their own."
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