Vanessa Williams was "encouraged" to be "creative" when she was growing up.
Vanessa Williams
The 56-year-old actress turned designer has joined forces with the Home Shopping Network (HSN) to design her own range of clothing - which will be released on July 11 - and has revealed that she grew up during a time where her mother sewed all of her dresses, and recalled going shopping to pick out different fabrics.
She said: "I grew up back in the day when you had to sew. My mother sewed all of my dresses my whole life.
"I remember going to the fabric store, picking out my McCall's patterns. It was a very creative household. And we were encouraged to do a lot of creative things."
And Vanessa - who has Melanie, 32, Jillian, 30, and Devin, 26, with ex-husband Ramon Hervey II, and Sasha, 19, with former spouse Rick Fox - has revealed that she created the range with the women in her family in mind.
She added: "My brand is really about designing for myself and my family. My mother (Helen Williams) will be 80 in December, I have a 32-year-old, a 30-year-old and 19-year-old daughter so I always kind of envision what they would like and have at least one piece [in the collection]."
The 'Ugly Betty' star previously released fashion collection, V. by Vanessa Williams - which was available to buy on Evine Live - and the star went on to admit that she that she took inspiration from her own wardrobe when it came to designing her much-anticipated range.
Vanessa told PEOPLE: "I want to be able to wear it and I do wear my own stuff out on the street. I also think about what I'm missing and what I need more of. If it's a blazer - what's the blazer that I don't have that I'm missing?"
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