Heat G Dwyane Wade has teamed up with Chicago-based men's neckwear company The Tie Bar "to design his own line of bow ties, neckties and pocket squares," according to Danny Ecker of CRAIN'S CHICAGO BUSINESS. "The Gentleman by Dwyane Wade" collection, which will be a collaboration of Wade's "personal design team and the Tie Bar designers, will include about 30 bow ties, 15 neckties, 15 pocket squares, tie bars and cufflinks." The new line will be available "online only at TheTieBar.com starting in November, with revenue split between" Wade and the company. Wade said that he will "be very involved on the design side of the line, just as he has been with shoes and other apparel to which he's lent his name." Wade: "I've been a (Tie Bar) customer in the past. I'm in that space right now where I'm designing my own shoes, I'm designing socks. I thought, how cool would it be to design my own ties?" The partnership is "by far the highest-profile marketing deal the Tie Bar has made since its 2004 launch." Sales at the company "have increased by double- or triple-digit percentages every year to close to eight figures in annual revenue" (CHICAGOBUSINESS.com, 9/9).
