Streetwear online retailer Karmaloop filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on March 23, and that was not a surprise. Karmaloop has also been able to combat its financial woes by receiving an investment of $3 million from Comvest Partners and CapX Partners to support the company’s restructuring. What comes as news from left field are rumors that Damon Dash, co-founder of Roc-A-Fella Records and Rocawear, and Kanye West might be looking to buy the brand.
In a recent interview, Dame talks about his evolving business model, ”I got my own Netflix, but I started with my own content and it also sells music and it also sells clothes.”
One would presume he’s just recapitulating his history with the Roc, but Dame continues, “You know, you don’t have to put this out until Monday, but me and Kanye are gonna buy Karmaloop, so you’ll probably feel that by the time this is out.”
While it’s great that Dash is taking control of the evolving fashion and retail industry again, it’s even better that he is bringing the creative virtuoso that is Kanye West. Yes, the same West who had his own fashion collection featured during New York Fashion Week, sold T-shirts for $100 and sold 9,000 sneakers in one day (generating over $3.9M). This looks to be a perfect opportunity for West to move with the times and not rant about how big corporations won’t give him his fair share of fashion excellence and profits.
This deal could also mean the resurgence of Black-owned fashion brands in the marketplace and provide a great outlet for Black designers to feature their fashions on a proven platform.
Sources: mtv.com
