Yet another celebrity fashion line. Beyonce, following in the footsteps of Jennifer Lopez, P.Daddy and Jessica Simpson, has launched her own clothing line, The House of Dereon. Last week, Beyonce in a combined venture with her mother Tina Knowles, signed a licensing agreement with Tarrant Apparel Group, a leading Los Angeles-based private label manufacturer. “The collection is young contemporary...but it really appeals to any fashionable, trendy woman- any woman who loves to be sexy.” The Knowles clothing line will consist of sportswear, outerwear, women’s bags and women’s shoes. The sportswear collection will include denim, retailing between $125 and $150, dresses between $150 and $200 and women’s suits retailing between $300 and $500. Beyonce made it very clear that she did not want her label to be named after herself. “The line is named after my grandmother, so the line has a bit of fashion from my grandmother’s generation, as well as my mother’s and mine....we’re mixing vintage with the new.”

Beyonce was adamant that she wanted it to be more about the fashion than about her celebrity. So far, The House of Dereon appears to be going in the right direction with its brand identity. It’s refreshing to have an emerging celebrity clothing line that does not have their ego splashed all over it. It will be interesting to see if Beyonce becomes the leading face in the advertising campaign for The House of Dereon or she sticks to the rendering table and the sketches. The collection will be designed by herself, her mother and Heather Thomson Shindler, former head designer for Sean John. Beyonce is confident that her mother’s sophisticated sense of style will take The House of Dereon to a successful level. The only reservations one might have about this is that as stylist to Destiny’s Child, Tina Knowles can be found guilty on more than one occasion, of sending the girls out looking cheap.

Heather Thomson Shindler may be working a little harder than she expected. “For the spring collection we’re planning a runway show.....it’ll be big” says Tina. This prompts me to ask the question, will The House of Dereon be designing clothing for the fuller figure woman? Will the sizing be modeled on that of Beyonce and her mother’s curves? If so, does that mean that the models they use for runway shows and fashion shoots actually resemble real women’s bodies and not waif like human hangers? Will this be a refreshing brand or just more of the same celebrity wannabe fashion designer?

A company spokesperson said The House of Dereon collection will be produced in the Far East and will be housed in a showroom in New York. Retailers will be able to view the line at market week in March. The collection will then open to 400 to 500 retail outlets nationwide.