Andre 3000 's Clothing is Heralded by GQ, but Losing Money

Its the best of times and worst of times for Andre 3000's Benjamin Bixby clothing line.

The good news is that GQ announced the Outkast memeber's clothing line Benjamin Bixby is a finalist for their second annual Best New Menswear Designers in America project, a competition that recognizes rising stars in American men's fashion.

Dre joins five other designers Save Khaki, Robert Geller, Yigal Azrouel, Shipley & Halmos, and Rogues Gallery. The winning designer will receive a $50,000 cash prize and the opportunity to create a limited-edition "capsule" collection for the Levi's brand.

The Benjamin Bixby line debuted in in features clothing inspired by preppy hip hop fashions of the 90's with 1935 college football flava.

Now the bad.

According to Woooha.com, sales of Benjamin Bixby has failed to take off because of the ongoing economic crisis and the clothing line's high prices and limited availability.

Dre introduced Benjamin Bixby in February 2008, as a self-funded venture, which is admirable, but usually most successful start ups, especially clothing lines have some kind venture capital backing them to avoid financial meltdowns like Bixby.

The Bixby line is currently being sold exclusively at the upper scale retail store Barney’s through their website on Barneys.com. The prices range from $95.00 polo shirts to $395 sweaters, to outerwear in the $1500 price range.

For Dre to sell pieces in Barney's is quite an honor, but given the fact that most of his fans do not shop at Barney's, the idea of charging $95.00 for a sweater, probably wasn't a good idea.

Personally, I think Dre can still turn Benjamin Bixby around if he does the following:

1.) If Dre wins the GQ competition, reinvest the $50,000 cash prize back into the line and use his chance to work with Levis as a way to create a new partnership that will allow him to design hip, cost efficient items.

2.) Find some solid financial investors who can pump a couple million dollars in the line. Do some market research and find out how much his fans are willing to pay for Bixby.

3.) Hire someone in the fashion industry who knows how to handle the business side of Bixby.

4.) Get out of exclusive contract with Barney's and partner with retail outlets like Target so he can sell some items at a lower price, while continue to sell the pricier items at Barneys.com

5.) Continue to be innovative. Most small businesses fail the first time. As long as Dre stay positive, find some solid financial backers and create new cost efficient avenues for his pieces, Benjamin Bixby might be Sean Jean of the next decade.