New reality television series Fashion Star, Jessica Simpson's newest foray into the sartorial world, makes its television debut on NBC tonight, just days after her very nude, very pregnant body hit newsstands in the form of an Elle magazine March cover photo. Naturally, I can only assume Jessica's been trying like hell to go into labor all weekend to boost tonight's ratings (and relieve her of her 18-month pregnancy), but not to worry - the songstress-turned-designer has hitting the campaign trail hard, nevermind that huge belly she's been toting around. You almost want to hate her for conveniently picking up all this good press at once, but I suppose she really is a pretty decent business woman - that is, of course, if her womb is a corporate entity. ANYWAY - despite the ubiquitous advertising, I have a ton of confidence in Fashion Star, which gives 14 designer hopefuls a chance to sell their designs to a panel of real buyers - the show's "judges" - from H&M, Saks Fifth Avenue and Macy's, who will bid on the contestants' designs each week. The winning clothes will be available online and in select stores immediately for purchase, giving the designers an instantaneous payout, while designers that don't garner bids go up for elimination. Even better, the ultimate winner will receive a $6.000,000 - that's six million goddamn dollars - in orders for capsule collections at H&M, Saks Fifth Avenue and Macy's. Recession over where?
Ms. Simpson joins host Elle Macpherson to serve as Tim Gunn a mentor alongside fellow designers Nicole Richie and John Varvatos. We had the chance to chat with Jessica about what we can expect from Fashion Star.
What was is like working with host Elle Macpherson?
Elle was amazing to work with. I mean she’s such a beauty icon, so she was definitely stunning to watch, but she has just a great presence about her and she’s a very professional person. I enjoyed getting her opinions on all of the clothes and on the business because she’s launched a really successful line of her own and she’s been in the business for so long. So I created a great relationship with Elle and I think people are going to love her fashion, love everything that she wears and of course her body’s rocking!
How did you get involved with the show?
Ben [Silverman, Executive Producer] actually approached me to do this project and apparently I was on their radar because of being involved with fashion and developing the Jessica Simpson Collection from ground up and now it’s got amazing legs to run on. I’ve had such a great time just diving in and seeing what I can do and what I can make of it. I really have created more and more of a passion for fashion over the years just being involved with the business and all of the small details and, you know, all of the blood, sweat and tears that go into making a shoe. There’s so much that goes into each item of clothing and so many people that are involved and it’s great to see that unfold and have a successful business, so I think that me teaming up with this show was a perfect fit. I couldn’t turn it down because I felt like it was great for my collection, but it was also important for me to talk to these up and coming designers and mentor them and kind of show them the ropes and really try and lead them, you know, in the right direction.
Because the pieces need to be wearable and relatable to the everyday woman how do you keep the challenges exciting for the viewers’ week-after-week?
Well most of the challenges are pretty simple. And I think that simplicity is one of the hardest things to do as a designer, but the simple pieces are always the ones that sell the most and they’re your everyday wear in your closet. So I think we just really wanted everybody to create closets, more than anything, for America and pay attention to the details, like make sure you have a good - great - pair of pants and make sure you can do an ad campaign. I mean just everything that goes into building an empire. These designers needed to be capable of everything that was going to come their way. As far as clothing, there’s no way that you’re going to be disappointed, and you’ll definitely see with all of the designers the challenge that it is to actually do something simple.
There are a lot of diffusion collections out there right now with huge labels like Jason Wu for Target and Marni for H&M, so what do you think is going to make people go out and buy these designs when there’s not a recognizable name attached to it?
And watching the show you’re going to have your favorites and you’re going to see these designers and their backgrounds and you’re going to fall in love with them as people too, so it doesn’t really matter if they're famous or not. I think you’re really going to like who they are, so you’re going to want to root for them and you’re going to want to wear their stuff. And it’s never really like - you don’t really compare people together, designers - you find yourself rooting for more than one person.
What's the biggest lessons you learned when starting your own collection?
Well I, at the beginning, thought everything that I wanted to create was right and that that’s what everybody should be wearing. But look I don’t wear flats and I’m very, very pregnant and it’s my biggest selling shoe in the Jessica Simpson Collection, so I had to give in and be like, “Okay well 90% of America wears flats.” I really had to like teach myself that it wasn’t about everything that just I would wear. It’s about looking at a person and giving them an overall look. Everybody is different and everybody has a different sense of style, so really understanding everybody’s sense of style and making it cohesive in my brand.
Has your pregnancy inspired you at all?
Yes, definitely! I definitely want to do a line of maternity clothes eventually. I mean I’ve started to try and come up with some designs and stuff and I haven’t really loved anything that - I was going to launch a maternity line, but I haven’t - it seems like everything that’s being made is what’s already out there and the point of launching a maternity line, for me, was to do something different. I’m not buying any maternity clothes. I’m wearing all [regular] clothes, just in bigger sizes, so I really want to make a maternity line that’s comfortable, but really stylish for people because I believe that we all deserve to feel good and look good. So it’s a little bit harder because people don’t want to spend a lot of money on maternity clothes because you’re only pregnant, you know, for almost 10 months. It’s a harder business, but I feel like it’s something that we will do eventually.
You weren't pregnant when you were shooting the show, right?
I wasn't pregnant. It will be amazing to see myself with a waistline! I’ll be like a big blob sitting on the couch watching myself thin.
With so much going on in your life, how have you learned to prioritize?
Well for me fashion is - has been pretty much the number one - it’s been first place as far as anything in my life and my career. And I just thought it was a great way to be able to wear the Jessica Simpson Collection and have the world see it and really give people an insight to how a business is run. A lot of people think of the Jessica Simpson Collection they only think of shoes, so I think that Fashion Star definitely helps me show to everybody how broad the collection is and how many different licensees we have and it was just a great way for me to really put the collection on a pedestal and have people really see how far it’s come and what it’s become.
Is motherhood gong to change that for you?
Well no because I feel like in the fashion that since we have had so much success that going to approval meetings and being inspired is not hard at all. So it’s a really relaxing career for me. I mean I travel to New York and made it to Paris for Fashion Week and stuff but, you know, other than that it’s really it’s just, you know, a career that I - all I need to do is just stayed inspired and I don’t see that leaving any time soon.
Tune in tonight for the season premiere of Fashion Star at 9:30/8:30C on NBC and let me know what you thought of the show! Do you think this reality television series stands a fighting chance against over fashion shows?
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