December 19, 2005 @ 10:59 am

Tina Knowles - House of Dereon

Alyssa Rashbaum

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Celebrities regularly launch their own clothing, perfume or sneaker lines, but just how involved do they actually get in the design and production of those products? Tina Knowles, who recently co-founded the brand new House of Dereon line, says her daughter and co-founder, Beyonce, is completely hands-on. “She has really dug in,” she says, “and the handbags and shoes coming out in the spring – that’s her passion. She’s attended a lot of the meetings and given [the team] a lot of tips. She’ll give us ideas on her favorite outfits and suggestion on things we hadn’t thought about putting in the line.” House of Dereon, which launched mid-November, features ready-to-wear, casual sportswear and denim, as well as accessories, furs, handbags and footwear, and was largely inspired by Beyonce’s grandmother, Agnes Dereon, a seamstress who designed clothing for private clients. A major influence in the line was the elegance of the clothing from Agnes’ era, the 1940’s. left “Everything has some little touch of my mother in it,” says Tina. “She loved beaded things, lace and smocking…. My mother would take little bits of fabric and make beautiful, expensive garments for a fraction of the cost. So, we’re trying to do that same thing. Maybe you don’t have a whole blouse with smocking on it, but there’s a little at the collar and a little beading on it. Something that makes it very special and very luxe.” The eclectic styles of the Destiny’s Child ladies can be seen throughout the collection, as Knowles drew inspiration from each girl’s individual taste. There’s up-to-the-minute style for Kelly Rowland, who “changes her style with the trends,” and tailored items for Michelle Williams. Beyonce’s flavor is seen in the elegant and classy vibe of the line. And while the D.C. ladies might express their styles with designer clothes, it was important to Beyonce and her mom that their line deliver that couture vibe with an affordable price tag. Jeans are priced at $98 on the newly-launched House of Dereon website, well below the $200 price of most designer denim, though some items, like a chinchilla fur jacket going for $900, are pricier. For Tina, keeping costs down was a must, since the line was created with Beyonce and Destiny’s Child’s fashion-forward fans in mind. “In all the years I’ve been designing Destiny’s Child, what I heard the most from the fans is ‘we want to look like [Destiny’s Child]’ and ‘when are you going to do a line of clothes so we can wear them?” Tina says. “So we’ve been adamant about doing clothes that were affordable, but the price is still a bit more than a junior line because we want to have the quality and design. Everyone deserves some touch of couture.” With the fashion-forward fans taken care of, the House of Dereon ladies are looking to help out younger fans. Both Beyonce and her mom will each donate 10% of their personal profits to children’s charities. A portion will go to the Knowles/Rowland Center for Youth at the Knowles’ church, while Tina hopes that eventually, some of those funds will go towards launching centers across the country where kids can “play basketball and XBOX, go into a recording studio, and do what they want with no questions asked.” Currently available in stores like Dillard’s, Marshall Fields and some Macy’s, House of Dereon will also be sold in specialty stores and boutiques next year. Can’t get to the store? Jeans are available at the House of Dereon website (House of Dereon). Read more vibe.com online exclusives.

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