Jay-Z was one of the names that made Mitchell & Ness a popular clothing brand in the late 90s and early 2000s.
According to reports, the rap mogul has acquired the brand as a part of his massive business portfolio in a $250 million deal with sports merchandise giant Fanatics.
Mitchell & Ness is a vintage jersey maker company out of Philadelphia.
Michael Rubin, Fanatics’ CEO, has teamed up with Hov, Meek Mill, Lil Baby, and Maverick Carter, a business partner of LeBron James, to purchase the brand.
Also connected to the deal is the D’Amelio family, a famous crew on TikTok that has tons of fans.
The Roc Nation founder is also an investor in Fanatic. He jumped on board with the latest funding round of $322 million that helped the brand leap to an evaluation worth $18 billion.
At one point, Hip-Hop culture kept Mitchell & Ness hot with urban fashion players. Fabolous and Outkast’s Big Boi led the wave. Jay-Z also was known to throw on an ill throwback.
Jay-Z’s reconnection to the brand is interesting after he almost tanked the market in 2003 with one line from “What More Can I Say” from The Black Album.
Jigga spit, “Cris’ caseloads, I don’t give a s###/ N####, one life to live, I can’t let a day go/ By without me bein’ fly, fresh to death/ Head to toe ’til the day I rest/ And I don’t wear jerseys, I’m 30-plus/ Give me a crisp pair of jeans, n####, button-ups.”
With his acquisition of the company, one that has been around for almost 120 years, Jay-Z will have the ability to breathe new life in it.