50 Cent Fronts Frigo’s Expansion Push

50 Cent has his sights set on conquering a new category: performance underwear. The rapper and serial entrepreneur, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, has put his weight — and cash — behind Frigo, a men’s performance underwear brand founded in Sweden by Mathias Ingvarsson, the former president and European director of mattress brand Tempur-Pedic. Jackson helped Ingvarsson close an $80 million licensing deal last December and he’s designing a collection of underwear for the brand named Frigo Crown designed by 50, which will be in stores this summer. “You can think of probably four or five different companies that produce high-end underwear for women, but there’s nothing that comes to mind that produces high-end stuff for men,” Jackson said. Luxury men’s underwear might be an underdeveloped category, but an NPD Group report said as men gravitate toward slimmer bottoms, they’re opting for fitted underwear with stretch. The men’s underwear market grew 3 percent in 2014 and reached $2.7 billion. Active underwear bottoms made from performance and premium fabrics drove this growth, according to the research firm. Jackson has developed a reputation for investing in new or bubbling categories. He had an equity stake in Vitamin Water, and earned $100 million after Coca-Cola purchased the

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Naked Revamps Brand Identity

Naked is gearing up for growth. With help from intimates veteran Carole Hochman, who joined the company as chief executive officer and chief creative officer last year, and marketing firm Case Study Brands, the men’s underwear and loungewear label is updating its assortment, logo, marketing, packaging and e-commerce site. Hochman, who met Naked’s founder Joel Primus through her son, is no stranger to developing brands. She spent more than 30 years heading up the Carole Hochman Design Group, which produced Hochman’s line of sleepwear and handled the innerwear licenses for designers including Oscar de la Renta, Christian Dior and Betsey Johnson. Intimate apparel giant Komar purchased Hochman’s company in 2010 and she resigned in 2013. “Once you sell your company, it’s not the best place to be,” Hochman said. “This is like my second act.” Hochman’s main focus at Naked is to attract new customers. She’s attempting to do this by updating Naked’s collection to include new styles of underwear, sleepwear and loungewear and bring the prices down. Using her connections in sourcing and manufacturing, the price range for a pair of underwear has dropped to $28 to $38 from $44 to $46. The new men’s collection designed by Hochman was delivered to Holt Renfrew,

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Time Celebrates 100 Most Influential

Tuesday night’s red carpet for Time magazine’s annual gala in New York to fete its list of 100 of the most influential people in the world was its usual hodge-podge of people you know, people you think you know, and people you don’t know but probably should know. While stars such as Bradley Cooper, Kim Kardashian, Kanye West, Julianne Moore, Rupert Murdoch and Emma Watson bypassed talking to the press, other big names and their more academic counterparts dutifully stopped for interviews. Coming off his own big interview with Edward Snowden, John Oliver, who was honored for his comedy, joked that he “doesn’t have anything” lined up to follow that gig. “I have nothing. Absolutely nothing,” Oliver said. “I’m not even saying I don’t know yet, I have a huge one. I don’t have anything. I’ll show you my cards. Nothing.” Sarah Koenig, whose Serial podcast earned her accolades, does have her next project lined up, but she stayed quiet. “I can’t tell you or I’d have to kill you,” she said. “It’s just different [from Serial].” That thread of secrecy ran throughout the evening. The always colorful Jenji Kohan, who wore a store-bought blue dress to match her deep aqua hair, said she couldn’t

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