New York Knicks’ Amar’e Stoudemire is taking his talents to fashion. To complement his thriving basketball career, he will be collaborating on a new fashion line for fall 2011 with Rachel Roy. He is already becoming known for his dapper style, being invited by Anna Wintour to walk the runway during NYC’s “Fashion’s Night Out” last year, and gracing the cover of this month’s Vogue magazine.

As WWD.com reports:

Stoudemire met the designer (Rachel Roy) at the Four Seasons hotel in November at a brief meeting to discuss a potential collaboration, and, according to both, they hit it off from the get-go.

“We met, and we talked about starting something together,” Stoudemire recalled. “I knew about her but never met her before. I figured that teaming up with her would be the ideal thing for me to do, because she is so great at what she does. I honestly didn’t know what to expect, and when I finally met her and we talked about some fashion opportunities together, I could see she was very passionate about her work.”

The logo

Roy struck a similar note about her design counterpart. “To be honest, I was very unfamiliar with him,” she admitted. “Basketball is a field I knew nothing about. I had not been to basketball games probably since I was in college, but once I watched him play, I was completely and utterly impressed with his work ethic, by how much he encourages his teammates, and how much of a team player he is. After those initial meetings, we both decided we had a similar point of view and wanted to work together.”

Sports will play a major role in his collaboration with Roy for fall. Don’t expect the pieces to home in on active garb, though. “I am channeling a girl that goes to sporting events,” said Roy, whose past design collaborators for her secondary line were with Estelle, Jessica Stam and pro surfer Karina Petroni. “She goes to basketball events or maybe football events. She needs something that is modern, something that represents her in a way that doesn’t look like it just came out of a sporting goods shop.

Sketch from the collection

The line will launch in September at select Macy’s stores, macys.com and NBA.com, with retail prices from $45 to about $250.  Industry sources estimate the Rachel Rachel Roy business to be in the region of $150 million to $200 million at retail.

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