Golden Globe, Emmy, and Grammy nominated Dante Terrell Smith, better known as ‘Mos Def’ is stepping into the fashion industry. The awesome MC, who is also known for his acting, poetry and urban style is partnering with UNDRCRWN, a lifestyle brand that is known for representing basketball culture. Mos Def has a T-shirt collaboration for Undrcrwn called the Watermelon Syndicate. Now Undrcrwn and it’s creative director, Dustin Canalin wants to expand the brand out of its basketball roots. The collaboration, described as “cut-and-sewn” will launch for spring ’09.

As for Mos Def’s contribution to Undrcrwn’s collection, Canalin said, “We took his DNA and applied it to ours.” Many of the items incorporate the colors and cover print from the 2004 Dead Prez album “RBG:
Revolutionary But Gangsta,” but include personalization from Mos Def’s own life. He twists conventional elements, adorning a nylon jacket with an upside-down flag, or printing bandana stripes on the back side of a T-shirt, for example. “A lot of it was just child’s play,” he said. “It’s just playing around with things, and saying, ‘People always do this, let’s not do that.’”

As for Undrcrwn, Canalin promised that Mos Def will be one of many designers to guest with Undrcrwn in future seasons, as the brand looks to expand outward from its sporty roots. Undrcrwn recently signed on Bryon Sheng, the creator of Adidas’s Remix division, to head up sales and marketing, and hopes that Mos Def will entice larger retail chains into recognizing Undrcrwn’s creative potential. “We don’t want to have the brand so regimented to basketball,” he explained. “We’re really trying to give it a designer touch.”

The 14 piece collection, “Mos Def designed by Dustin Canalin for Undrcrwn,” will debut on August 26th at the Palms Hotel & Casino, in Las Vegas, but will not be available to us, retail from $36 to $200, until February ’09.