Photo: Russell James
Summer is calling andJessica Simpsonis dialing up the heat with her new seasonal collection.
The actress, singer and style icon just launched her latest range of summery tops, dress, denim pieces and shoe silhouettes for her fashion brandJessica Simpson Collection— and she’s in full designer mode.
“I find design inspiration everywhere,” Simpson, 42, tells PEOPLE exclusively about how she approaches the creative process.
Sometimes it isn’t planned, and she says that a spark of genius will arrive to her at “the most random times,” like when she’s listening to a song or flipping through her favorite art books. “Other times,” Simpson says, “it will literally be in my dreams and I wake up scrambling to write it down.”
Russell James
The brand’s new campaign, focusing on the just-debuted line, encapsulates that wanderlust appeal.
“There is a cinematic romance to the visual of the telephone booth in the middle of nowhere. I love the mood it evokes and the styling crosses over from many different generations. It’s like a 1970s and 2000s moment all at once!” describes theIrresistiblesinger of the desert-set photo shoot.
The fun for Simpson also lies in mixing and matching the collection with her own vintage collectibles, which gives her space to mesh her personal style with the brand and reinvent some of her treasured items.
For this campaign, Simpson even got out a pair of distressedDaisy Dukes denimshorts, styled with thepuff-sleeve Aubrey Topand iridescentCamisha platforms. And the look isn’t a far cry from what her closet looks like because she’s “always going somewhere” in her denim shorts and platforms.
There’s a “ridiculous number” of cheeky shorts in her outfit rotation (which, she jokes, would make her a self-titled cutoff “connoisseur”). She still has the collection of hot pants she rocked in the 2005 movieTheDukes of Hazzard— “I actually wore many pairs of the same shorts!”
Though, she laughs at her onscreen keepsakes in comparison to legendary musicianDiana Ross, who is mother-in-law to her sisterAshlee Simpson Ross. “Her archive is filled with sequins that make you salivate and mine is filled with Juicy suits and Daisy Dukes!” jokes the actress.
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Of course, Simpson’s trying out different fashions through her company. She’s easing back into the wedge look with her “new favorite” goldCitali Wedges; she’s showing off her shoes with the split-front flares and she’s putting a neutral spin on retro prints with the leafyClover Field pattern.
Being on the parent grind also means finding her “favorite pieces” stashed away in her10-year-old daughterMaxwell’s closet — except her shoes! Simpson says Maxwell has already outgrown her. “Fingers crossed Birdie gets to devour the collection I have saved instead!” says Simpson of her 4-year-old youngest.
With so much going on, Simpson feels the most beautiful when she’s simply present with herself and creating, she says.
“The older I get, I lean into the free-spirited version of myself: connecting my personality with my eccentricities! I never let people’s judgments get the best of me. My confidence is showing up as I am.”
She also feels extra assured with a unique token tucked away in her outfits. “An immediate confidence boost is when I put a penny in my pocket knowing that I took time to wish myself luck,” she shares with a wink.
source: people.com
