Whoopi Goldberg is launching a fashion line

13 May 2019

Whoopi Goldberg is launching her own size-inclusive fashion line.

Whoopi Goldberg

The 63-year-old actress is known for her eccentric style and love of quirky sweatshirts, but now the EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony) winner has announced that she has created her own contemporary fashion line, named Dubgee, which features graphic separates, tunics and dresses, that will become available from Wednesday (15.05.19).

And Goldberg revealed that she has taken her creative role very "seriously" because fashion is a form of self-expression.

Speaking to Business of Fashion, she said: "This is as serious to me as anything else I've done in my life. The first thing you should communicate is, 'I like me.' I think the motto of the company is, 'The last thing you should ever fret about is what's in your closet.'"

The much-anticipated launch is part of a new push of celebrity-backed lines, which range from simple licensing deals to more projects like Gwyneth Paltrow's wellness brand Goop and Reese Witherspoon's successful fashion line, Draper James.

The 'Sister Act' star admitted that she was drawn to creating her own collection because she struggles with body confidence and wanted to design a range that she "loved" herself.

She added: "I started feeling kind of weird about my body, which is something I had never experienced before, and it suddenly occurred to me that if that's how I'm feeling, maybe other people are feeling the same way.

"There are a million people who put their name on clothes, you know the 'Pooky Poo' collection. It's not a licensing deal to me. I want to wear what we are making. I want to say, 'Here's why I love it, here's why I think you'll love it.' I can convince people to take a shot at feeling better."

The 'Ghost' star partnered with Gary Wassner, the founder of Hilldun, which is a factoring firm that provides young designers with loans and other forms of credit, after the pair met in 2015 when they sat together at a Jeremy Scott runway show in New York.

Wassner continued: "We are making clothes that compensate for all of the issues that have always bothered Whoopi when she's gone shopping. That's a concept that can extend in all categories of clothing."

Goldberg's Dubgee range will be available on Amazon, Ashley Stewart, Le Tote and Neiman Marcus.