NBA Player Chris Paul has teamed up with Los Angeles-based clothing company, Five Four, to create a capsule collection. The Five Four x Chris Paul collection is comprised of casual apparel including t-shirts, polo shirts, cardigans, trousers, and hats. Most of the pieces are in neutral colors, with dark blue being the only standout color. The twenty-piece collection intended to be included in men’s summer wardrobes.
The partnership initially came about after the founders of Five Four, Andres Izquietza and Dee Murthy, decided to design “Lob City” t-shirts. The idea came from a comment that L.A. Clipper player Blake Griffin made during the Clippers’ Media Day. After it was announced that Chris Paul would be joining the team He said, “Yeah! It’s going to be lob city!” That was about five years ago.
Eventually, Chris noticed the t-shirts and started a relationship with the brand. For years he would visit their offices and peruse their collections. However, now they’ve decided to collaborate to release an entire collection of summer apparel.
When designing the collection Chris decided to create pieces that he would include in his summer wardrobe. He also has pieces that hold sentimental value such as dress shirt with a trio of patterns blended together. The significance of the shirt to Chris is that fact that it was inspired by his late grandfather. He had the first black-owned service station in North Carolina. Unfortunately, he was murdered around the time Chris was in high school. It shows that he’s not just designing cool clothes, but pieces with stories behind them. Which is what fashion is about, telling a story through the clothes.
Traditionally, Five Four is a business that adheres to a subscription service business model. Members of Five Four go on to the site for figure out their style and then pay a monthly fee to receive a box of a few new pieces every month. The pieces that they received are tailored to fit the member’s style. However, collections like Chris Paul’s have allowed the company to revisit the idea of selling items to customers individually instead of in a box. Now customers can choose either to receive a monthly shipment, buy individually, or do both.
We learned just a few weeks ago that Paul will soon be leaving L.A., the city where he met Izquietza and Murthy and their partnership was formed. Paul and his family will be packing their bags to head to Houston—not exactly down the road from the Five Four offices like they are now. It will be a transition for everyone and may mean fewer pop-ins to the brand’s headquarters, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to slow them down. There’s already a second Chris Paul x Five Four collection slated for the fall.
Every piece in the collection retails for under $60, which is super affordable for any capsule collection or collaborations. Thank you, Chris Paul, for being mindful of our pockets.
