Are you ready for a $95 designer T-shirt from Harley-Davidson?

But then I took another look. And I think there's more to this announcement than just some T-shirts and jackets with eye-watering prices. (And it seems we will have eye-watering prices. Though the collection won't be available until March, other reports are talking about T-shirts costing $95 and leather jackets far into the four-figure dollar range, and I strongly suspect they won't include the latest CE-approved armor, either.)

Three new lines of apparel from Harley-Davidson

First, here's what's new. The three new lines are called Bar & Shield by Harley-Davidson, Harley-Davidson Originals, and Harley-Davidson Authorized Vintage. They will go on sale March 9 at hdcollections.com. The Bar & Shield line is being created by well known designer Louise Goldin, who was instrumental in creating Kanye West's hugely successful Yeezy brand before Ye imploded and took his brand down with him. The Originals line will be "a modern interpretation of the classics." The Authorized Vintage line is interestingly unique, in that it will consist of collectible, vintage articles that come with certificates of authenticity from Harley-Davidson's historians. (The shirt in the top photo is one of the vintage items.)

So how does designer clothing fit in at "The Motor Company"?

Sales growth, profit growth, desirability growth

Harley-Davidson has known for a couple of decades that it had to evolve. Even back as far as the introduction of the V-Rod, new products were driven by the realization that the company's "core customers," middle-aged white guys, were only going to buy so many more motorcycles.

Under former CEO Matt Levatich, that evolution was pursued in what might be considered a conventional growth strategy. There was a lot of outreach to women and minority customers, a focus on expanding sales outside the United States, and the introduction of more accessible models, such as the lower priced Street line. But after Levatich was ousted and Jochen Zeitz took over as CEO, the direction shifted 180 degrees. Now the focus is on selling fewer motorcycles at higher prices and greater profit margins, pulling out of all but the most profitable foreign markets, and constantly repeating the phrase "most desirable motorcycle brand in the world."

So far, that strategy is working, in that profits are up even though motorcycle sales are down. But in that context, how do you attract younger customers to replace your core customers when you don't have a single motorcycle to sell them for less than $14,000? Well, you don't have to ride a motorcycle to buy a really expensive leather jacket.

The Harley-Davidson brand has been considered a valuable asset for so long that nobody really questions it any more (cue the old cliché about the only brand people get as tattoos). But the allure of the H-D brand among younger people is on more uncertain footing, in my opinion. Maybe the real benefit of these new fashion lines is the potential to make the Harley-Davidson brand more desirable (that word again) among young people, whether they want to buy a motorcycle now, maybe later, or even never.

These new clothing lines will probably only add fresh fuel to the old and often-repeated misinformation that "Harley makes more money selling T-shirts than motorcycles." But I see this move as about more than directly making money with clothing sales.

The two bigger questions may be: Can this incursion into fashion be the next step in pursuing the company's true goal, desirability? And can the brand get so desirable that not enough people can afford it any more?