Famous Actors Who Started Clothing Brands

Some actors become style references before they ever sell a single piece of clothing.

A memorable role, a red-carpet signature, a street-style look, or a long-running public image can turn an actor into someone fans want to dress like. For a few stars, that influence becomes a business.

Not every actor-led fashion brand works the same way. Some stars founded labels. Some co-founded brands with retail partners. Some launched capsule collections. Others built lifestyle companies that included clothing, shoes, accessories, and home goods.

Reese Witherspoon

Reese Witherspoon launched Draper James as a fashion and lifestyle brand rooted in her Southern background.

The brand’s own story says Witherspoon founded Draper James in 2015 for women who wanted clothes that felt polished, special, and easy to wear. The label’s name honors her grandparents, Dorothea Draper and William James Witherspoon.

Sarah Jessica Parker

Sarah Jessica Parker was already closely tied to fashion because of Sex and the City, so a clothing and shoe line felt almost natural.

In 2014, Parker launched the SJP Collection with George Malkemus, the longtime Manolo Blahnik executive. The brand began as a footwear collection and was built around quality, color, sparkle, and Parker’s long relationship with New York style.

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen made one of the most respected transitions from acting into fashion.

After growing up as child stars, they launched The Row in 2005. The label became known for quiet luxury, careful tailoring, refined basics, and a near-total rejection of loud celebrity branding. Recent coverage still identifies The Row as the brand founded by the Olsen twins and notes its evolution into menswear and modern tailoring.

Kate Hudson

Kate Hudson became a major name in activewear through Fabletics.

The brand launched in 2013 with Hudson as a founding public figure alongside Adam Goldenberg and Don Ressler. Fabletics describes the idea as a response to a gap in the activewear market: stylish, high-quality gear at accessible prices.

Drew Barrymore

Drew Barrymore expanded her lifestyle empire with Dear Drew.

The brand launched on Amazon Fashion in 2017 and included apparel, bags, jewelry, and other pieces. People reported that Dear Drew was Barrymore’s debut fashion line and featured a free-spirited style connected to her creative public image.

Melissa McCarthy

Melissa McCarthy launched Melissa McCarthy Seven7 with a clear purpose: better clothing options across a wider size range.

Vogue reported that the line launched in 2015 and included dresses, separates, denim, and pieces priced under $150, with sizes from 4 to 28. McCarthy said the idea came partly from her own frustration with limited fashion choices.

Eva Mendes

Eva Mendes launched a vintage-inspired fashion line with New York & Company.

The collection debuted in 2013 and included affordable dresses, skirts, blouses, accessories, and denim. Glamour covered the launch and noted Mendes’ love of vintage shopping as a major influence on the collection.

Zendaya

Zendaya moved into fashion early, and Daya by Zendaya became one of her best-known clothing ventures.

People reported that she created Daya by Zendaya in 2016 as a fashion line designed to bring her cool, chic style to fans with gender-nonspecific pieces. Allure also described the collection as inclusive, with many unisex items, sizes from 0 to 22, and prices under $160.

Hilary Duff

Hilary Duff launched Stuff by Hilary Duff during her early 2000s teen-star peak.

The lifestyle brand included fashion, accessories, beauty products, and other youth-focused items. Public brand histories note that it launched in the early 2000s and was aimed largely at tween and teen shoppers.

Rebel Wilson

Rebel Wilson launched Rebel Wilson X Angels as a plus-size fashion line.

FashionNetwork reported in 2017 that Wilson was entering fashion with a contemporary collection for women size 14 and up. Allure later noted that Rebel x Angels was set to launch through Dia & Co, online, and department stores including Nordstrom, Dillard’s, and Lord & Taylor.

Victoria Beckham

Victoria Beckham is often discussed as a fashion designer first today, but she began as a performer and public figure before building a major label.

Her namesake fashion brand launched in 2008 and eventually grew into a serious fashion house known for clean silhouettes, tailoring, dresses, and polished styling.

Lauren Conrad

Lauren Conrad turned reality-TV fame into a lasting fashion and lifestyle identity.

After Laguna Beach and The Hills, Conrad built fashion lines that reflected her soft, feminine, California-inspired style. Her LC Lauren Conrad line at Kohl’s became especially recognizable, offering dresses, tops, denim, accessories, and seasonal collections for mainstream shoppers.

Nicole Richie

Nicole Richie became a style figure after her reality-TV years and then launched House of Harlow 1960.

The brand began with jewelry before expanding into clothing, accessories, and lifestyle pieces. Richie’s fashion identity leaned into bohemian style, vintage references, statement accessories, and relaxed California glamour.

Gwyneth Paltrow

Gwyneth Paltrow moved into fashion through Goop and its clothing line, G. Label.

Paltrow’s broader company began as a lifestyle platform before expanding into commerce, wellness, beauty, and fashion. G. Label became the clothing side of that world, built around polished basics, office-ready pieces, knits, dresses, and the understated style associated with Paltrow’s public image.

Jessica Simpson

Jessica Simpson is more widely known as a singer and television personality, but she also acted and built one of the most commercially successful celebrity fashion businesses.

The Jessica Simpson Collection began with footwear in 2005 before expanding into clothing, accessories, luggage, and other lifestyle categories. The brand became especially known for accessible fashion rather than luxury positioning.

Lindsay Lohan

Lindsay Lohan entered fashion through 6126, a leggings-focused line that later expanded.

The brand name referenced Marilyn Monroe’s birth date, June 1, 1926, and reflected Lohan’s public interest in celebrity style history, nightlife fashion, and fitted silhouettes.

Sofia Vergara

Sofia Vergara launched accessible fashion lines that reflected her glamorous, body-conscious style.

Her clothing work has often been built around affordable pieces for mainstream shoppers, including dresses, denim, tops, and everyday wardrobe items. That approach matched Vergara’s public image: polished, feminine, confident, and approachable.

Ashley Tisdale

Ashley Tisdale moved into fashion and lifestyle branding after becoming famous through Disney Channel projects.

She launched clothing and style collaborations aimed at young shoppers, reflecting her early-2000s and 2010s fan base. Her fashion work fit the pattern of Disney-era actors turning fame into beauty, fashion, music, and lifestyle ventures.

Venus Williams

Venus Williams is primarily known as a tennis icon, but she has also worked in fashion through EleVen by Venus Williams.

Her brand focuses on activewear and tennis-inspired clothing, making it a strong example of a public figure using real performance experience to shape fashion. Although Williams is not a Hollywood actor, she has appeared in entertainment and public-facing projects, and her fashion line deserves mention in any broader celebrity clothing discussion.

Serena Williams

Serena Williams also built a fashion identity beyond tennis.

Her clothing work reflects athletic power, bold style, and the long-running public conversation around what women athletes wear on and off the court. Williams has launched fashion collections and used clothing as a form of self-expression throughout her career.