Paper Planes vs Rocawear

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They are different brands from different eras with different business models, and the only thing they genuinely share is an association with Shawn Carter.

Rocawear launched in 1999, at the height of the era when hip-hop artists built large-volume apparel labels, and was sold to Iconix Brand Group in 2007. Paper Planes launched in 2014 as a smaller, narrower brand and operates under Roc Nation with Carter holding the trademark.

The question people are usually asking underneath this is whether one replaced the other. It did not.

Style photo for Paper Planes vs Rocawear: What Changed Both are JAY-Z-associated apparel brands, but from different eras and different business models. What separates Paper Planes from Rocawear, and why it matters. Paper Planes vs Rocawear — Photo: Murat IŞIK / Pexels

The man who worked inside both

Here is what makes this comparison answerable rather than speculative: Paper Planes co-founder Emory Jones started at Rocawear. When he came home and JAY-Z asked what he wanted to do, Rocawear was declining, and Jones asked to go in anyway:

"He was like, we going to put you in the merchandise. And when I realized - merchandise was the most important person in the building. Everything had to run through that lens. It gave me a chance to learn everything, from marketing to sales to design to production."

So the person who diagnosed what happened to Rocawear did it from inside the building.

The diagnosis: brand fatigue

Jones's read on why Rocawear declined is specific, and it is not "the clothes got worse":

"I just kept telling everybody, it ain't the brand, it's the brand fatigue. When you do urban brands, the life of them is: we move on."

Urban apparel brands of that era ran on scale, broad distribution, big retail partners, wide catalogues, and burned bright on a clock. The customer moves on. No amount of fixing the existing brand resets that clock.

Which is why Paper Planes was not a relaunch:

"I can pull this brush out and I got a blank canvas. We get a chance to build a new foundation on top of what we got."

New name, new mark, new model, deliberately narrow, headwear-led, slow on purpose. Jones again: the team had to understand "the importance of walking this down, not being in a rush to figure out that sales is the thing." Why the brand sells through independents →

Fitted photo for Paper Planes vs Rocawear: What Changed Both are JAY-Z-associated apparel brands, but from different eras and different business models. What separates Paper Planes from Rocawear, and why it matters. Paper Planes vs Rocawear — Photo: Jimmy Jimmy / Pexels

The ownership difference

This is the substantive one. Rocawear was sold, so the brand carrying that name today is owned by the company that bought it. Paper Planes was trademarked by Carter and operates as an independent brand under Roc Nation.

One is a name that was sold. The other is a company that is run.

The product difference

Rocawear was a full apparel line at scale. Paper Planes is headwear-led, the founding product is a cap, and the Original Crown is still the hero of the line a decade on.

Which came first

Rocawear, by fifteen years. There is no continuity between them: not shared design, not shared production, not a relaunch.

Who owns Paper Planes → · Paper Planes and Roc Nation →

FAQ

Is Paper Planes the same as Rocawear?

No. Different brands, different eras, different ownership. Rocawear launched in 1999 and was sold to Iconix in 2007; Paper Planes launched in 2014 and operates under Roc Nation.

Did Paper Planes replace Rocawear?

No. There is no continuity between them, not design, not production, and not a relaunch.

Which came first?

Rocawear, by about fifteen years.

Are they both JAY-Z brands?

Both are associated with Shawn Carter, but the relationships differ. Rocawear was sold to another company; Paper Planes is trademarked by Carter and operates under Roc Nation.

Quotes from Emory Jones on Boardroom Talks with Rich Kleiman, also on YouTube.