Idina Menzel launches casual clothing line
Idina Menzel's new apparel line, Encore, is on sale at QVC. Credit: Getty Images / Amy Sussman
Syosset-raised "Frozen" star Idina Menzel on Wednesday launched Encore, a casualwear apparel line of more than a dozen pieces.
"So happy to finally share my news!" the "Wicked" Tony Award winner, 50, wrote on her social media. "I've launched my own clothing line … with @QVC, for people like me who can feel like a mess at school drop-off and hate to pick out what to wear."
In an accompanying video, Menzel, the married mother of a 12-year-old, she said spends "a lot of my time between family and work and everything in between and I really needed to find clothing that would move with me throughout the day. And I've had a lot of anxiety about going in my closet and feeling overwhelmed by all those choices. I wanted to find something where it just took decision-making out of the process."
The collection includes separates such as V-neck sweaters and T-shirts, a cardigan and high-waisted calf-cropped jeans, and other items including a scoop-neck, short-sleeve dress and a hooded jumpsuit. Menzel will show the $40-$80 line on-air on QVC Monday from 4 to 5 p.m., in addition to other appearances on the shopping channel.
"When you stop worrying so much about how you look, you just feel comfortable in who you are," said the Syosset High School alumna in a video on the QVC website, calling the collection a mix of "New York confidence and style [and] California relaxed chic, comfort, vibe."
QVC executive Rachel Ungaro told the fashion trade magazine WWD the company had met with Menzel just over a year ago and that the singer-actor was hands-on throughout the design process.
"Idina is not a classically skilled designer,” Ungaro said, "but she has a point of view … [and] she's able to explain that to somebody who can actually create a sketch of the garment. Idina was heavily involved in selecting the fabrics and the styling, and … has worn all the clothes through her trials and through the photo shoots. There were a couple of pieces in the collection actually that were nonnegotiable. The jumpsuit was so important to her because it's how she wants to dress."
Menzel told People magazine her line "needed to be inclusive and diverse. … [I]t's actually really rewarding to see when you create a certain look and how it looks on different body types, and all kinds of women." She said she told her collaborators, "I need things to feel really comfortable and model them after things that I want on my own body and a lot of my own idiosyncratic, neurotic body insecurities."
