Idina Menzel is about to break out in a new role.<\/p>\n
Best known for playing roles like Elphaba in \u201cWicked,\u201d and Maureen in \u201cRent,\u201d as well as voicing Elsa, the ice queen, in the \u201cFrozen\u201d movies, the actress and singer has designed a sportswear collection called Encore by Idina Menzel that she will sell on QVC.<\/p>\n
Menzel will be on air May 23 from 4 to 5 p.m., with additional hits throughout the day at noon, 4 p.m. and between 7 and 10 p.m.<\/p>\n
The collection, which runs the gamut from jumpsuits to hooded rompers, ballet cardigans, fit and flare dresses, high-waisted crop jeans and French terry zip-front hoodies and pants, retails for between\u00a0 $40 and $100, with the sweet spot between $59 and $65. The collection ranges in size from XS to 3X. There will be a second drop this fall, and they\u2019re already starting to work on 2023.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have to say I\u2019m probably different than a lot of other people who have collections. I would never be a person who described herself as being into fashion. If anything, it\u2019s always been anxiety-provoking for me,\u201d said Menzel in a telephone interview. \u201cIt came out of a need and necessity to find things to wear that took the decision-making out of the process.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said she was looking for clothes that made things easy and that could be worn from sleep to street. \u201cI can\u2019t tell you how many times I\u2019ve taken my son to school and stood next to that mom that was perfect at 7:50 a.m. and had it all together and her hair was gorgeous, and my shirt was inside out,\u201d said Menzel.<\/p>\n
For her personal life, Menzel prefers to keep things casual. \u201cMy personal style is to be relaxed. When you\u2019re in costumes and fittings all the time, the last thing I want is to feel constricted. It\u2019s East Coast-West Coast. I like to feel confident and chic for my East Coast [meetings], from my days growing up on Long Island and New York City. And now I\u2019m a California girl and I like to be relaxed and be barefoot. It\u2019s kind of a combination. I like to play with something that feels flowy and feminine and then put on a pair of biker boots with it. I like to feel grounded, and that I can stomp along in my life,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Menzel said she developed the line several years before taking it to QVC, visualizing and executing\u00a0 what she wanted and felt really authentic to her. \u201cI knew I wasn\u2019t going to be able to get up and sell something that didn\u2019t feel right,\u201d said Menzel. She said she didn\u2019t just want to license her name. \u201cI\u2019m not a good liar. I took a long time in figuring it out and what the story was and the narrative and making sure it always felt true to me and felt diverse and it was inclusive of all sizes.\u201d<\/p>\n
She is working with Newtimes Group, a sourcing, product development and supply chain management firm. She made a film with her various looks and spoke to QVC about what she wanted to do and the trajectory of her life and fashion. The reason she did a film was \u201cso they could see someone who could talk to their audience, and I believe their audience is similar to my fans.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy audience has grown up with me through the years through the different shows, and my characters speak to this sort of empowerment of women. I wanted to keep everything congruent, and we pitched it to them. They\u2019ve been wonderful partners the whole time, and they embraced the idea,\u201d continued Menzel<\/p>\n
For starters, she has designed a signature piece that she\u2019s calling, \u201cThe Swing Jumpsuit.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe swing is the person in theater who I respect the most and is the person who has to learn every role. For me, it\u2019s a hooded jumpsuit. If you really wanted to, you can wear it to bed and wake up, throw on sneakers and get your kids to school, throw heels in your car, and if you have to go for drinks later, you can go out,\u201d said Menzel.<\/p>\n
From there, she added layering pieces and foundational styles \u2014 a ballet sweater and a cardigan. She said the first line is coming out for summer so everything is lighter, but still soft. \u201cPlus there\u2019s a great tank dress. There are really staple pieces that can go with anything in your closet,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Menzel added that they paid close attention to the details, taking into account her own body insecurities. For example, \u201cI don\u2019t like my arms. I think I have flabby triceps. If it\u2019s sleeveless, it has to have something to go over it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Being on-camera at QVC shouldn\u2019t pose a problem. \u201cI\u2019ve been practicing,\u201d she said. \u201cIt comes pretty easy to me. I think it\u2019s just another way to connect with my audience. I\u2019m not going to be singing to them. I think one of my strengths is connecting in an intimate way with my audience, whether I\u2019m on stage or whatever I\u2019m doing. This is just another way I feel I can do that and be very personable and they can get to know me,\u201d said Menzel.<\/p>\n
She invested in some equipment and set up her Encore studio in her home. If she\u2019s traveling, she can set it up in a hotel.<\/p>\n
Menzel called it an ongoing project. \u201cWe\u2019re two years in already. You learn your customer really quickly and you can get a feel for what they\u2019re liking and what they gravitate to,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Eventually, she would love to expand to other products, but for now, \u201cI\u2019m going to stay focused and not put the cart before the horse,\u201d said Menzel. Her father had a pajama company and in his retirement he knits \u201cthe most beautiful blankets and sweaters.\u201d She said she\u2019d love to get into blankets, and they have some ideas to do some philanthropic work. \u201cFirst I have to prove to QVC there\u2019s a consumer for what I\u2019m selling and earn their trust, and then it would be great to move into more things,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Newtimes is manufacturing the collection in Vietnam, India, the Philippines and China.<\/p>\n
Menzel said the name Encore was a natural choice. \u201cObviously, I wanted it to relate to the fact that I\u2019m a performer. I feel whether you\u2019re a singer or performer or not, we\u2019re all playing so many roles in our lives and have to multitask. We all deserve to stand in our spotlight and take it all in and have that moment on the stage, where someone says, \u2018we applaud you, and you\u2019re doing well in your life.’\u201d<\/p>\n
Rachel Ungaro, vice president, vice president and general merchandise manager for apparel at QVC, sees a lot of potential for the collection.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe feel very good about her as a brand. Based on the way the first collection came out and how great it looks and looking at future development, we\u2019re looking at a long-term relationship with Idina. We\u2019re planning for a strong relationship,\u201d said Ungaro.<\/p>\n
Ungaro said they met Menzel a little over a year ago and from the moment they saw her presentation on why she wanted to partner with QVC \u201cit just felt right from the beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n
The collection is geared to a women very similar to Menzel. \u201cShe\u2019s a multitasking busy woman with a lot going on her life, whether she\u2019s a working mom or in a different stage of her life. We have a very casual customer at QVC in our apparel business, and Idina is very casual,\u201d said Ungaro. \u201cHer collection is cozy, it\u2019s warm, it\u2019s got really beautiful knit fabrics, very comfortable and very effortless. It will appeal not only to our existing QVC customer and will also drive us to new eyeballs.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Ungaro, Menzel was completely involved in the whole process. \u201cIdina is not a classically skilled designer, but she has a point of view which is amazing. She\u2019s 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 she touched and felt everything. She 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 non-negotiable. The jumpsuit was so important to her because it\u2019s how she wants to dress. It\u2019s one of the key pieces we\u2019re actually launching with,\u201d said Ungaro.<\/p>\n
Menzel is joining other QVC apparel brands such as Isaac Mizrahi Live!, J Jason Wu, Candace Cameron Bure, and Belle by Kim Gravel, all of which are strong sellers.<\/p>\n
Menzel will work with a QVC host who will handle the logistics and help her present the collection on the live broadcast. Menzel will wear the collection on-air, and they\u2019ll have a misses\u2019 model, a petite model and a large size model to reflect the diversity of body types who can wear the collection.<\/p>\n
Asked what she anticipates will be the bestsellers, Ungaro cited \u201cthe jumpsuit, the\u00a0 beautiful linen tunic dress that will look good with bare legs and a pair of sandals or you can put it over jeans, and some beautiful, soft sweaters that look great tied over your shoulders on a cool night on the beach or worn with a pair of jeans.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition to the on-air appearances, the brand will live digitally. They will do a lot of promotion with their social team surrounding Encore, and \u201cIdina will continue to push the brand through her own channels.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ungaro explained that the storytelling aspect\u00a0 \u201cis our superpower.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe thing I love the most is Idina is definitely having fun with what she\u2019s learning and doing, and I think that will come across when she comes on air next week. She probably found another career that maybe she didn\u2019t know she had.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Idina Menzel is about to break out in a new role. Best known for playing roles like Elphaba in \u201cWicked,\u201d and Maureen in \u201cRent,\u201d as well as voicing Elsa, the ice queen, in the \u201cFrozen\u201d movies, the actress and singer has designed a sportswear collection called Encore by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1083,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-interviews"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/a501304.005.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Srnq-hr","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1081"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1081\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1084,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1081\/revisions\/1084"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1083"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}