Empire's team has struck a deal with Saks Fifth Avenue to put together outfits inspired by the costumes in the series, including looks seen on Terrence Howard's label boss Lucious Lyon and his ex-wife Cookie, played by Taraji P. Henson.

The Empire collection, a selection of carefully curated looks by a number of designers, will be shown off in displays at Saks stores in New York and California next month (Sep15) ahead of the U.S. premiere of season two.

Jeffrey Godsick, of Twentieth Century Fox, tells WWD.com the initiative could pave the way for a stand-alone Empire fashion line, saying, "This rollout at Saks positions Empire as a fashion brand. As we introduce the next layers we're doing, such as collaborations and having interesting designers create clothes for the cast... We wanted to introduce Empire as a lifestyle brand from the outset. It has aspirational qualities. We believe it can be a stand-alone fashion brand. It could be an Empire label or a label related to a specific character."