Jessica Simpson is fashion's newest billion dollar baby — but did she mean to be? Simpson will continue growing her empire this year by adding a ready-to-wear collection and a line of career separates, which are expected to push sales for the company to over a billion dollars. "I never thought I'd be some fashion mogul!," Simpson tells New York in the magazine's spring fashion issue, where the cover girl rocks huge, teased hair and bare shoulders.
To put that number in context, the magazine explains that Simpson's company is doing roughly the same volume in sales as designers like Michael Kors. Simpson says that her brand is so popular because she makes the line for everyday women and keeps the focus away from herself. "What you really need is your basics for every type of person," she says. "When it comes to other celebrity brands, I think a lot of people do a great job, but it can't be all about them.
Everybody doesn't want to just look like the celebrity, because they can't. They just want one element of that style." Her business manager, David Levin, puts the original idea behind her fashion lines a little more directly, telling New York, "A girl could go to the shopping mall with her mother and she'd have a great new outfit and still have some money left for lunch at McDonald's. She can look like Jessica Simpson, smell like Jessica Simpson, and she can afford it." Tell us: What do you think of Jessica Simpson's billion dollar fashion empire?