Hip hop designer launches new look

Hip hop clothes designer Russell Simmons said his new clothing line, on sale in Chicago, is geared for 25-50-year-old urban men with successful role models.

Simmons said his new American Classics line is aimed at the urban graduate who identify with role models like President Barack Obama and movie star Will Smith, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Tuesday.

Simmons, who co-founded Def Jam Records in 1984, moved into clothing with Phat Farm, a line he sold in 2004 for $140 million.

Now available in a Chicago Wal-Mart, American Classics will be expanding to 350 Wal-Mart stores nationwide in the next few weeks, the newspaper said.

The clothing will be in about 10 percent of Wal-Mart outlets and coincides with the retail giant’s strategy of pushing into more urban markets, the newspaper said.