ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., May 23, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Queen Latifah, winner of Grammy, Golden Globe and SAG awards, has partnered with leading multichannel retailer HSN for the exclusive launch of the Queen Collection, her first-ever lifestyle brand. On August 27, Latifah will debut a unique collection of apparel, handbags and outerwear, and will introduce a hair extension line in September. The premiere will feature designs inspired by her personal style and design aesthetic.
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Queen Latifah is an inspiration to women everywhere based on her unbridled success in music, television and film. Conscientious of her stature as a role model and fashion icon, Latifah created her new collection to inspire women to find their own personal style. The Queen Collection offers women fashionable wardrobe-building pieces of apparel and accessories at accessible prices.
“I wanted my collection to reflect my personal style while giving women the tools to build a wardrobe they can feel good in,” said Queen Latifah. “I partnered with HSN because it’s the ideal platform to share my story and the stories of women who inspired me. I hope to instill confidence in hundreds of thousands of women across the country.”
“To truly capture the diverse aspects of this remarkable artist, we focused on creating a comprehensive lifestyle brand that encompasses apparel, accessories and beauty,” said Mindy Grossman, CEO of HSN, Inc. “Queen Latifah‘s appeal is universal, and her ability to entertain, enlighten and empower women is sure to resonate with our customers.”
HSN and Queen Latifah have collaborated to create designs that compliment a variety of body types. Inspired by silhouettes that have been adapted from Latifah’s personal wardrobe and fused with her background in the equestrian world, the Queen Collection features sleek riding pants, slouchy blazers, ruffled blouses, fringe ombre scarves and a suede moto jacket.
The Queen Collection apparel and outerwear lines are grounded with easy-to-wear basics, casual sweaters, great fitting jeans, leggings and tees. Priced under $100, the apparel line focuses on layering pieces such as jackets and coats. The line’s handbags and outerwear styles are all constructed in genuine leathers and suede and are priced between $170 and $300. These designs feature studded details, zippers and moto silhouettes.
Following her first on-air appearance on August 27, Latifah will return to HSN in September to debut a custom line of Natural Wavy Clip-On hair extensions. Women everywhere will have access to high quality, 100% Remy Indian hair extensions at accessible prices. Available in a range of colors, including black, shades of brown, auburn and shades of blonde, the Queen hair extension collection starts at just over $100.
“HSN and I have worked closely together to create a high quality hair product for women who are interested in reinventing their look,” continued Latifah. “Since my brand philosophy is about instilling confidence in women everywhere, I want to help them transform their look from head to toe.”
Queen Latifah is currently scheduled to appear on HSN starting on Saturday, August 27 at 12:01 a.m. (EDT). More information on the upcoming launch of the Queen collection can be found at hsn.com.
About Queen Latifah
Queen Latifah: musician; television and film actress; a label president; an author and entrepreneur. Blessed with style and substance, Queen Latifah has blossomed into a one-woman entertainment conglomerate. Heralded by the press and the industry as a force to be reckoned with, Latifah has quite simply done it all and shows no sign of slowing down. Latifah has had amazing success in Hollywood in recent years, and became the first hip hop artist to be crowned with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on January 4, 2006. She received rave reviews, an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress, a Golden Globe nomination and a SAG Award nomination for her portrayal as Mama Morton in Miramax‘s Chicago. Following Chicago, Latifah starred in Disney’s box office hit Bringing Down the House, on which she also acted as executive producer.
In the TV movie, Life Support, Latifah was both the star and executive producer, in the true-life drama, in which she plays a mother who overcomes an addiction to crack and becomes a positive role model and an AIDS activist in the black community. Latifah received rave reviews as well as an Emmy nomination, a Golden Globe win and a SAG Award win. She starred in Neil Meron and Craig Zadan‘s Hairspray playing Motormouth Maybelle and was also seen in the film Mad Money playing opposite Diane Keaton and Katie Holmes. In Fox Searchlight’s The Secret Life of Bees, Latifah starred alongside Jennifer Hudson, Alicia Keys and Dakota Fanning. Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, The Secret Life of Bees won the Hollywood Film Award at the Hollywood Film Festival and a People’s Choice Award for Favorite Independent Movie in 2009. Queen Latifah starred in the romantic comedy Just Wright, on which she produced as well. She also starred alongside Vince Vaughn and Kevin James in The Dilemma directed by Ron Howard . Next up, she is producing and starring in Warner Brothers Joyful Noise alongside Dolly Parton.
Latifah was seen in Wayne Wang‘s The Last Holiday, and starred in MGM‘s Beauty Shop (a spin-off of the hit Barbershop), which she also produced. She also appeared in Marc Forster‘s Stranger Than Fiction, playing opposite Emma Thompson and Dustin Hoffman and was the voice of the Wooly Mammoth in Ice Age 2. To most people releasing multiple movies would be enough, but Queen Latifah wasn’t satisfied.
On September 25th, 2007 Latifah released her album titled Trav’lin Light in which she was nominated for a Grammy. Co-produced by three time Grammy winner, Tommy LiPuma, this album was the long awaited follow up to Latifah’s highly received and Grammy nominated The Dana Owens Album. The platinum-selling album was a collection of timeless classics chosen and covered by the Queen herself. As Latifah demonstrated both in Living Out Loud (1998) and her Oscar-nominated performance in Chicago (2002), her vocal talent is as impressive as her acting. In August 2009 her latest album titled Persona was released. Executive produced by Cool and Dre, Persona brings together the two worlds of Hip Hop and Pop creating a new sound for the Queen. Queen Latifah is also one of music’s most well respected rappers. From her ground breaking 1989 debut All Hail the Queen, which set the visual and contextual standard for female rappers, to her bold foray into R&B, Latifah continues to define what a woman in the music industry should be. She has earned six Grammy nominations as well as a Grammy Award for Best Solo Rap Performance in 1994. In 2004, she was nominated for Best Female Rap Solo Performance for Go Head. In 2005, she was nominated for Best Jazz Vocal Album for The Dana Owens Album and in 2008 she was nominated for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for Trav’lin Light.
And then there’s Flavor Unit Entertainment, a production company owned and operated by Queen Latifah and her partner, Shakim Compere. The company, based in New Jersey, is quickly establishing itself as one of the most important production companies in the film industry. They began by executive producing the box office # 1 hit Bringing Down the House and then continued with Beauty Shop for MGM and The Perfect Holiday for Paramount. They are also co-producing the action-comedy Bad Girls at Paramount with Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Overbrook. They have also produced The Cookout with Lion’s Gate as well as the film Just Wright with Fox Searchlight. On the small screen, they executive produced HBO’s critically acclaimed film Life Support. Flavor Unit Entertainment made a multi-year deal with BET to create new original programming including the original movie The Cookout 2 and its first-ever scripted romantic comedy titled Let’s Stay Together. Most recently it was announced that Flavor Unit Entertainment’s original film Single Ladies, which was exec produced by Queen Latifah, would be expanded it into a weekly scripted dramedy series on VH1, the network’s first. Currently, Flavor Unit is producing Latifah’s next film Joyful Noise.
Latifah is also not a stranger to the small screen. Her first television series, Living Single, was a huge success and is currently in syndication. From the small screen, Latifah made a leap to film and her acting skills have earned her the status of leading lady. Since her screen debut in Spike Lee‘s 1991 film Jungle Fever, her film career has taken off. She starred in Set it Off, which earned her a nomination for a Spirit Award in the Best Actress category and co-starred with Holly Hunter and Danny DeVito in the critically acclaimed Living Out Loud. In 1999, she was seen in Universal’s The Bone Collector directed by Philip Noyce starring Denzel Washington.
