Justin Bieber’s Purpose World Tour merchandise will live on in retail perpetuity if he has anything to do with it.
Bieber announced Wednesday that he is launching a collaboration with Forever 21 and music merchandise company Bravado starting next week. The collection, which includes t-shirts emblazoned with the pop star’s face and tween-friendly phrases like “Justin Forever,” will be available on Forever 21’s website first before hitting brick-and-mortar shops on August 29th. The effort may ingratiate himself with fans that were distraught after he deleted his Instagram account following a public feud with ex-girlfriend Selena Gomez in the comment section of a picture he shared of his new love interest, Sofia Richie, daughter of Lionel Richie.
The eight-piece collection will be much, much more affordable than Bieber’s previous fashion collaborations, which includes his Purpose Tour XO collection at Barneys with jackets priced at upwards of $1,500 and his VFiles line, which featured an embroidered jean jacket for $350. In contrast, the Forever 21 garb will range in price from $17.90 and $34.90, a more realistic price point, perhaps, for his fan demographic.
Forever 21’s most recent trip to the pop star galaxy was somewhat less sanctioned: The chain got itself into hot water in June when it allegedly ripped off styles from Kanye West’s “Life of Pablo” line.
That came right after another retail giant, Zara, launched a streetwear line that looked curiously similar to Yeezy Season 2. Bieber himself has faced criticism for his World Tour apparel due to its striking similarity to Vetements, which he has yet to address.
Bieber’s previous lines have been met with fanfare, including the large showing he received at the VFiles launch in May. Hundreds of people lined the streets of the Manhattan shop in hopes of getting their hands on the exclusive apparel and even see the artist himself, who made a brief appearance.
It has also fed the growing resale market for music merchandise, in which savvy linegoers turn over a profit of nearly 300 percent by marking up the apparel and selling it online.
“People love the Biebs, he can do no wrong,” Andre Arias, one of the resellers in the VFiles line, told Glossy in May. “It doesn’t matter how many pisses he’s taken in the street or how many middle fingers he gives his neighbor, that man is golden. Anything associated with him, people are going to want, and anything associated with him that’s really rare or limited only drives that demand up that much higher.”
