Simmons, who launched the Phat Farm clothing label in 1992 and another brand in 2008 called Argyle Culture, sold in Macy's (M), says his new focus is the "urban graduate," whom he describes as 25-to-50-year-old men such as Will Smith, Adam Sandler, and Barack Obama, who grew up with hip-hop clothes but as professionals can no longer don baggy pants and shirts sporting oversize logos. American Classics' first season has a heavy focus on purple, navy, and white and includes jeans, sweater vests, casual sports shoes, and woven and knit shirts.

It is also changing apparel displays in stores. Full outfits will be hung together in racks, so that a mother shopping for her son or husband can get ideas for which shoes go with which sweater and find them in the same area instead of having to pick out the shoes in one section and then rifling through piles of sweaters in another division to find a match.