Teen Vogue got the chance to sit down for a chat with Nicole Richie and talk about her collection for Impulse, teen style, and bad hair days. Speaking about the ’70s-inspired line featuring some of her signature boho glamour, Nicole says that, “When I was filming Fashion Star, I had the opportunity to spend a lot of time with the head Macy’s buyers while working with the designers and having them present their collections to Macy’s. Listening to Macy’s feedback — what the customer was looking for, who the customer is — I got extremely familiar with the brand. So when they approached me to do the Impulse collection, I was first of all so honored, but I felt that it was a great time to step into this and still have it be my aesthetic.”
“Still have it be very much me, very much my aesthetic, bring in the jewel tones and work with some really great prints. We developed some great kaleidoscope peacock prints, and you’ll see some cool Aztec prints that are actually a nod to the jewelry that I do for House of Harlow. You’ll see similarities, but this collection is focused for the Macy’s customer,” Richie added.
On her style as a teen and how it changed since then, Nicole told the magazine that Punky Brewester used to be her style icon. “It wasn’t when I was a teenager, but when I was about 7 or 8, I was extremely excited about Punky Brewster. She was my style icon. I would leave the house with a white sock and a black sock and then a green shoe and a red shoe, and I thought I was killing it. I thought it was the coolest thing ever.” “And then Clarissa Explains It All came out a little bit after, and she again had that same kind of eclectic, crazy taste. My mom was mortified. And then Reality Bites came out, and I think I kind of went through that grunge phase. I was your typical girl, so I went though every stage.”
On her biggest fashion regret Richie reveals that, “I would say the pictures that my mom has up of me in her house is the most mortifying to me, because that’s where I spend a lot of my time. So it’s constantly in my face, those pictures of me in these ridiculous Punky Brewster-esque outfits. But you know what? There’s actually no moment where I’m just mortified because fashion is fashion and everybody gets mortified. I make fun of my dad for his crazy ’70s commodore outfits and his giant Afro. Everybody goes through it, that’s what fashion is all about. It’s important to just have fun with it and look at every time as that time.”
Talking to Teen Vogue, Nicole also shares her wardrobe secret weapon. “For fall, I would say that a great go-to blazer a must-have. I did one for the Impulse collection actually, and it has embellished shoulders,” she says.
The gorgeous designer also reveals some her tips for bad hair days. “I have naturally curly hair. I have curly, curly, curly hair, and I hated it growing up. All I wanted to do was be like my friends and go to school with wet hair and let it dry naturally. That was my dream, and it never happened for me. So I learned at a very early age — I taught myself — how to blow dry and flat iron my hair when I was like 10 or 11 years old because that’s what I wanted to do. Just through that I became really obsessed with hair and obsessed with having that bad hair day and how to really conceal it,” she explains. “I learned how to French braid, and I’ve been braiding forever. So I’m a very good braider, which is kind of always my go-to for those out of control, crazy hair days. Bobby pins are my best friend; I never leave my house with out them. I figure you can always kind of work it out. If you have enough bobby pins, you can fix your hair in some sort of way. In the summer I wear a ton of headscarves. I wear them at the beach because, like I said, I have naturally curly hair, so me just Bo Derek-ing it out of the ocean is never happening.”
Her advice for wannabe designers? “Never give up. It is definitely a hard business, but never give up. Go with your instincts, and always be open to learning more. Listen to the buyers. Listen to the customers because you have to be a businessperson as well as an artist in this industry,” she told Teen Vogue.
Photos courtesy of Teen Vogue
