Beetle Bailey becomes inspiration for fashionistas

Interesting news from King Features:

The fashion industry is rolling out the red carpet for its next superstar – Beetle Bailey. The funny pages icon, who has entertained millions of readers for 60 years, is now serving as the inspiration for an all-new high fashion menswear collection. In conjunction with King Features Syndicate, fashion trendsetters Darren Romanelli, founder of prominent streetwear brand Dr. Romanelli (DRx), and Hitoshi Tsujimoto, head of the hugely successful Japanese-based apparel company The Real McCoys, have teamed up to develop an Americana and military-infused Beetle Bailey apparel and accessories collection. The limited- edition line will be unveiled at PROJECT New York, the leading advanced contemporary fashion event taking place at 82 Mercer Street, in New York City from January 16-18.

Romanelli and Tsujimoto are helping take one of the most popular and successful comic strips of all time to exciting new heights with the support of legendary cartoonist Mort Walker, the creator of Beetle Bailey. Combining Walker’s original cartoon designs with Romanelli’s passion for reinventing classic properties and Tsujimoto’s Americana and military-inspired style, they have created a high-concept collection that stays true to the Beetle Bailey brand while drawing on some of today’s hottest fashion trends. The Beetle Bailey collection will feature an array of apparel and accessories for men, including jackets, sweaters, pants, t-shirts, bags, hats and shoes.

“We are incredibly excited to be collaborating on the Beetle Bailey menswear collection with two cutting edge designers. Darren and Hitoshi are known for putting a new twist on classic brands, and we felt they would be the perfect designers to help Beetle Bailey leap off the funny pages,” said David Golzman, Manager of North American Licensing for King Features Syndicate. “We are confident the designs will be a tremendous success as the collection’s ode to Americana perfectly complements the comic strip’s humor and wit. We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to unveil the collection at a prominent fashion industry event like PROJECT, a great backdrop for this high-fashion line.”

Known in the fashion industry for bringing together some of the world’s most innovative contemporary brands with prestigious global retailers, PROJECT New York will debut its first-ever brand development collaboration with the Beetle Bailey menswear collection next month. In addition to unveiling the Beetle Bailey concept merchandise as well as exclusive pieces from Romanelli’s design archives collection at PROJECT, the fashion industry will salute Beetle Bailey with a comic strip retrospective exhibit which will showcase some of the most popular comic strips from the past 60 years along with a special appearance by Mort Walker.

Romanelli, who previously collaborated with Tsujimoto on a design project based around the hit television series “LOST,” added, “When King Features reached out to me a little over a year ago to see if I was interested in working with Beetle, I was intrigued. I flew to Connecticut to meet Mort and the rest is history. It’s such an honor to be working with him! I grew up with Beetle Bailey and can remember seeing the strip when I was as young as 7 years old. It’s very exciting that, with the support of Mort Walker, Tsujimoto and I are now taking Beetle Bailey in new directions, using the comic as inspiration for a new kind of resurrection and repurposing. We are creating a whimsical approach to Americana, and, simultaneously, showcasing tastemaker culture in a very unique format.” Andrew Pollard, President of PROJECT added, “PROJECT is always looking to showcase new and exciting brands, designers, and collaborations that are unique to anything else out there in the fashion industry. This Beetle Bailey collaboration is just the type of project we like to get behind and feel strongly that the design concepts that Darren and Hitoshi have created will not only resonate with fans of the long-running strip but will excite retailers.”