Ellen DeGeneres just can’t sit still. Every time I tune in to check on her, she’s starting some new endeavor. Ellen is currently touring in her first stand-up tour in 15 years. She also recently partnered with the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund to establish the Ellen DeGeneres Wildlife Fund (technically a gift from her wife, Portia de Rossi). Plus she debuted her new game show, Game of Games and, of course, she has her daily talk show. So with the 30 seconds of free time she has left, Ellen has decided to design a second clothing line. Ellen, who already has her lifestyle company ED by Ellen, will offer a new, gender-neutral clothing line at Walmart next month, inspired by her own style.
It just got a little bit easier to mimic Ellen DeGeneres’ dance moves. The comedian is launching a new clothing line based on her stylish flair (with lots of jeans and sneakers, natch) — that’s hitting Walmart shelves next month.
This isn’t DeGeneres’ first foray into the branding game. In 2014, she founded luxe lifestyle company E.D., offering clothing, home goods and even pet products. She partnered with Gap to release a kids clothing line and later created a variety of shoes and sneakers, perfect for dancing on The Ellen Show.
But EV1 is short for “everyone,” and the emphasis is on inclusivity. It will launch on Walmart.com in September with select pieces debuting in 2,300 Walmart stores on Sept. 10. Each of the 60 clothing styles — including denim, tees with inspirational phrases, shoes and accessories — costs $30 or less, and new designs will be introduced seasonally.
In a statement, DeGeneres says the inspiration behind the line is “Adorableness. Is that a word? The biggest inspiration was actually inclusiveness. That’s definitely a word. EV1 promotes kindness and love and diversity. We wanted it to appeal and be available to as many people as possible. Plus, it really is adorable.”
The inspiration comes from DeGeneres’ gender-neutral personal style — she frequently sports sleek watches, sneakers and blazers on her show, along with her staple jeans and T-shirts — and comes at a time when gender-neutral clothing as a category is gaining traction in the fashion industry.
I’m a fan of gender-neutral clothing as well as Ellen’s style evolution. I dig her hip-preppy chic vibe but I especially love her fashion palette. EV1 is not branching too far from her ED by Ellen brand other than she is adding “elevated denim” to the articles sold (I still need the term “elevated denim” defined for me in a way that goes beyond ‘fancy jeans’). The biggest difference seems to be that ED by Ellen’s clothing starts at $30 per item and EV1 stops there.
I support Ellen wanting to design clothes, although I’m a bit surprised to see her selling them at Walmart. I completely understand why Walmart sought out Ellen, though. For years, Walmart has tried to shake their anti-LGBTQ reputation. But the Human Rights Council just suspended their score in the 2018 Corporate Equality Index after citing multiple accounts of discriminatory behavior. The Advocate argued that the score suspension was long overdue and that the promotion of an LGBTQ-friendlier Walmart has just been a façade this whole time to court revenue. Ellen is far from being a perfect person but I have always believed she was a well-spoken advocate for the LGBTQ community. It seems to me that instead of trying to help them improve their LGBTQ image, she would be better served to wait until they’ve proven themselves with a better record. I wish she’d gone to JCPenney’s instead. They beautifully supported her after One Million Moms came for them over Ellen as their spokesperson.
Photo credit: WENN Photos and Getty Images
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pLHLnpmirJOdxm%2BvzqZmbnBoaoVxe8Slo56mj5myqLHNnqmeq4%2BewKCwxKygoKaZo7Sgrb6co6ismJ67qKvLoqWel6eewamr1pqjppmiqXw%3D