Angelina Jolie is bringing a near and dear dream to life, and her kids are at the heart of the new venture.
In November 2023, the actress will launch a fashion house, Atelier Jolie, with a brick-and-mortar location in New York City. The business is the product of two of Jolie’s greatest passions: motherhood and global humanitarian work. It isn’t your average celebrity clothing brand, though — it’s much, much more than that.
In 2021, Jolie decided to do a little fashion experiment with her kids for the premiere of Eternals. Focusing on ideas of self-presentation and identity, the mom of six wanted to observe how her kids would choose to dress when limited to items from her own closet, as well as thrifted selections. During a recent interview with Vogue, Jolie explained her parenting philosophy when it comes to the outfits her children wear: “I don’t tell the kids how to dress. Even when they were little, I just put things in front of them,” she said.
And that’s exactly what she did for the Marvel film premiere. Among the items chosen from her closet were a Gabriela Hearst dress that Shiloh, 17, wore, and her 2014 Oscars gown by Elie Saab, which Zahara, 18, picked for herself. With a little help from thrift shops, each of Jolie’s kids wore a look that incorporated sustainability with re-worn items. “I went vintage shopping with a few of them as well — I think Knox [15] was wearing all vintage,” Jolie shared. “The cut was quite unusual, quite cool, I thought,” she said, admiring her son’s ensemble.
-
Helping Her Kids Be Their Most Authentic Selves Through Fashion
Image Credit: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic. The experiment came from a desire for her kids “to be their own people.” The Tomb Raider icon opined, “[We] live in our clothes, it is so much a part of who we are, and something that’s important to explore, especially for young people.” That’s where the idea for Atelier Jolie comes into play. The fashion house founder shared, “I’ve always wanted to take my family to a place where I can say: Does your clothing really represent you? Absolutely you? And do you love it?”
With the atelier, Jolie can help her children determine their identity through fashion while also bringing much-needed change to the industry. One item included in Atelier Jolie’s debut collection is a silk slip dress that’s available in a wide range of nude colorways to fit an equally wide array of skin tones. It was actually Zahara’s idea, the vast shade range, based on her own experience shopping for similar items and coming up empty-handed because she couldn’t find options that matched her deep brown complexion.
Jolie didn’t shy away from the conversation around racial bias in fashion. “Obviously, as a white woman, I’ve never had this experience,” she told Vogue. The Maleficent star confessed, “It never crossed my mind until we went shopping together and I saw that there’s so much room for improvement.”
-
Involving Her Kids in More Ways Than One
Image Credit: Mike Marsland/WireImage. Beyond the ideation of the atelier and the inspiration behind its offerings, Jolie is involving her kids in the physical creation of her namesake fashion house. Zahara helped scout out the perfect location for the collaborative label — a two-story building that was owned by Andy Warhol in the 1970s and occupied by Jean-Michel Bastiste in the ’80s. Recalling their search for retail spaces in the city, Jolie admitted, “I can be very impulsive, but Zahara is so grounded, decisive, and thoughtful. When she agreed [that she loved the building], I felt we were both decided.”
Additionally, the filmmaker’s 19-year-old son Pax has had a hand in the interior design. Nodding to a canvas featuring a spray-painted Atelier Jolie logo, Jolie beamed, “That was my son practicing.”
-
All in an Effort to Forge a Better World
Atelier Jolie’s mission is also guided by the creatives the Wanted actress has met in the industry and while traveling the world to support humanitarian causes. “I’ve met a lot of artisans over the years — very capable, talented people — and I’d like to see them grow,” Jolie shared. She clarified, “I don’t want to be a big fashion designer. I want to build a house for other people to become that.”
Referencing her former role as a UN Refugee Agency Goodwill Ambassador and Special Envoy, Jolie explained, “I’ve spent over 20 years of my life working on foreign policy, and aid relief, and displacement, and laws pertaining to refugees, and I kept watching the same situation get worse and the same cycles continue.” Of the atelier, she added, “Now I want to shift the focus and look at how we can work in partnership with people around the world to bring not just skills training, but actual business partnership. I don’t really believe the current system is working,” Jolie candidly stated.
Atelier Jolie is shaping up to be quite the family legacy and industry disrupter, and we can’t wait to see the change the label creates on a global scale.
More Stories from Parenting
Leave a Comment