The mourning siblings of the King of Pop have announced the launch of a commemorative fashion line dedicated to their brother who art in heaven. In a cynical move that they claim is "100%" representative of his musical identity, the shameless cash-in collection will include exact replicas of the jackets made famous by the Thriller and Bad videos. Referring to the brand as a "tribute" to Michael Jackson and his iconic legacy the label has been aptly titled, err, J5.

Yep, that's right. The five remaining members of the sixties breakthrough act, The Jackson 5, (yes, they may have gave Jacko his early fame, but sure as hell wouldn't be remembered for much other than 'that ABC song' had Michael's solo prowess not toppled the charts in a mammoth way) are cashing in once more on their late and great brother. Blessing as it may be that the line won't be featuring any afro wigs or seventies shirts, the label would still be a more fitting tribute to MJ were it actually attributed to him. 

Charging up to an eyewatering $600 dollars for pieces whose doppelgangers will assuredly be found in 90% of costume stores internationally, but will no doubt be snaffled up by-the-dozen by loyal, borderline-obsessive fans. To say this smacks of a merciless cash-in by the band of brothers is an understatement as much as it's no surprise given Jacko Senior's track record. But catastrophically, admitting that talks about the line have been ongoing since the funeral (why let small matters like custody of nieces and nephews or, you know, actual grieving get in the way?) underscored our tut-tutting stance on this. Especially when no-one can pull off his bizzaro aesthetic but Michael himself - if Cheryl and Rihanna and that Navi dude can't make it work then TRR certainly won't be getting within a crotch-grabbing distance.

Posted on November 09, 2010 at 8:36:19 by Jessica Riches