Reese Witherspoon Introduces Her New Fashion Line

Famous actress and producer, Reese Witherspoon now launches her first fashion line being called Draper James.

Some works she is currently setting in right now is her movie premier with actress, Sofia Vergara in their comedy “Hot Pursuit” where Witherspoon plays an awkward cop.

She also snagged the film rights for “Ashley’s War: The Untold Story of a Team of Women Soldiers on the Special Ops Battlefield” based on a book by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon’s.

She was chosen to narrate an audiobook as well. The book by Harper Lee called “Go Set a Watchman” will be on sale July 15.

And lastly, her new Southern-inspired sportswear and lifestyle line, Draper James, which is launching online Tuesday, May 12. Witherspoon is all in with her brand being the majority shareholder.

In the New York photo shoot for the line, Whitherspoon is shot smiling and showing her Southern charm says the crew members at the shoot.

Crew members said she shook their hands, cracked jokes and was very pleased with the set and her outfit.

According to WWD, Witherspoon expressed her line by reporting, “One of our tenets is ‘unapologetically pretty.’ Like, what’s wrong with being pretty? That went out the window a long time ago. In the South, there’s a lot of color, prints, tradition, traditional fabrics like gingham, plaids, stripes. There’s also definitely a feeling that what you wear makes you feel better, especially if you’re wearing color, prints or joyful things”

Witherspoon reports that 40 percent of the collection is actually made in the south with some locations in Southern regions which are found on her e-commerce site.

via draperjames.com

For the collections home and entertainment pieces they hired Hanna Nation Seabrook for stationary, silversmith Kaminey Haislip, and the Savannah shop Number Four Eleven, all located in Charleston, S.C.

They actually tried to keep the brand strictly Southern by only hiring Southerners said te chief executive officer of Draper James, Andrea Hyde.

But with the hiring of Frederic Tremblay, former Tory Burch vice president , as their design director the idea of all Southerners soon vanished.

Wihterspoon prides herself on her work, Hyde tells WWD, “The details were really important to Reese — she doesn’t like to compromise.”

“It’s a big deal that my name is on something. It’s not just my name. It’s my grandparents’ name, which is a big, big deal. And you know I feel very emotional about it,” says Witherspoon.

Her hopes for the brand is that it opens people’s eyes and encourages more to travel to Southern regions. She shows this through her website that will feature City Guides.

“We will have different Southern ambassadors that will show places to buy amazing Southern antique silver or where to find hand towels like their grandmothers had,” she explains.

Witherspoon sells directly to the consumer to help keep prices down for her clothing. One can expect the sportswear to be around $50 for tops and around $400 for a dress. As far as jewlery, pieces will sell anywhere from $25 to $250 and handbags from $40 to $325. Home decor will start at $14 for simple items such as pencils or $400 for sterling silver magnolia-shaped bowls.

Whitherspoon is projected to introduce five new collections throughout a year.

She also clears speculation of her hotel investments by saying, “There’s no hotel. I don’t know why people think I’m making a hotel, but I’m not.”

But, she will be building new Draper James stores. One store under construction now will be 3,000 square feet opening in fall.

“It will have all those touches of my Southern upbringing but also revealing what the South is today,” she explains.

Witherspoon is creating a line for all women though, not just for Southerners. She wants to bring her Southern edge to cities like LA, New York City and Brooklyn.

Also she explains a big inspiration for her was a women on the go.

“So if you have zero time, you’ve got three kids to drop off at school, or need to go to lunch, or gotta go to the office, you can know that you feel comfortable and you look pulled together,” Witherspoon says.

 

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