For many, shopping habits are looking a lot different this fall. With fewer events and some companies projected to continue working from home at least through the end of the year comfort, functionality, and longevity have become the priority. The newly launched Kelly Rowland for JustFab collection, which provides updates to classic silhouettes in neutral shades, meets the moment and hits the mark effortlessly.
Kelly Rowland isn’t new to the fashion game — her partnership with the membership shopping platform JustFab comes more than a year after her first of several athletic collections for the brand’s sister company, Fabletics. Now, diving into the creation of everyday apparel with JustFab, Rowland is named the new face of the affordable brand just as it hits its 10-year anniversary.
“I love how JustFab represents women,” Rowland tells ESSENCE. “I wanted to be on that journey with them. [With] Fabletics and JustFab [being] sister companies — and I love the team — I jumped at the opportunity. And we have a good time. It doesn’t feel like work. It’s fun.”
The singer has already had a booming year, from her NAACP Image Awards win, to her role as Sandra in the upcoming horror film, Bad Hair, to subtly announcing her second pregnancy with her husband Tim Weatherspoon on Instagram just days ago (Rowland shared her adorable bump on Women’s Health Magazine’s new cover). Now, she’s giving fans a shoe and apparel collection where all women feel included.
“I love how JustFab represents women,” Rowland tells ESSENCE. “I wanted to be on that journey with them.”
The collection, set to release over three drops (October 15, November 1 and December 1), begins with tan leopard and houndstooth print cardigans, black leather pants, a comfy matching set, and a black kimono sweater – all of which boast the opportunity for endless mixing and matching. The October drop is complete also with a shoe range of nine boot variations and an Oxford shoe. “[Everything] had to be a classic look, because I swear by anything classic,” Rowland says, adding that matching sets are a personal favorite. “I shop for my closet now [thinking], ‘Am I going to wear this in 10 years? Am I going to wear this in 20 years?’”
Another aspect of the collection that was particularly important for Rowland is the inclusion of plus-sized options in select styles. She tells ESSENCE that when shopping with friends, she’ll personally pass on items which are not available in sizes they can all fit. “I’m surrounded by different women in my life and different body types,” she says. “I feel like they should always be represented.”
The collection comes just days after Rowland’s midnight drop of her new single, CRAZY, which is also featured in JustFab’s commercial for the collection. The commercial, which shows Rowland trying on pieces from the collection, was shot in the singer’s own home while social distancing.
“The lyrics of the chorus are ‘If I’m gonna be crazy, crazy about anything, I’ll be crazy for you,’” Rowland shares. “I feel like … I’ve said that to my career, I’ve said that to my husband, [and] I am crazy about my son. It’s just [about] things that you love and that you’re passionate about. I think it ties so beautifully, actually, into this campaign.”
While Rowland’s relationship with the company dates back, at minimum, to the release of her KellyXFabletics collection in 2019, her new venture with JustFab comes during a time where the fashion community and consumers are hyper aware of which companies are championing Black creatives and which are (actively or non-actively) enabling systemic racism.
“I think [the] responsibility as a brand [and those] connected to brands, is to make sure that every person of color feels seen and heard. Because to not feel seen and heard means to feel ignored,” Rowland says. “Another reason I was so excited to partner with JustFab is because [Daria Burke, CMO of JustFab] is an intelligent, creative, beautiful Black woman, and the feeling that she’s putting into everything, you can tell … The women she surrounds herself with are from many different ethinic backgrounds, and everybody has to feel represented, period.”
See the first release of the Kelly Rowland for JustFab collection here.
