apparel

Walmart Turns To Ellen To Up Its Fashion Game

Comedian Ellen DeGeneres, no stranger to fashion forays, is teaming up with Walmart for a new line of clothing.

Called EV1, the new women’s line, which the retailer says is inspired by great design, positivity and inclusion, is set to debut next month. It includes 60 mix-and-match items, all priced at $30 or less. With dressed-up denim, inspirational T-shirts and sneakers, the collection will make it easy for women in a wide variety of sizes to capture DeGeneres’ casual chic, according to the company.

“We, along with Ellen, wanted to make a line that worked for everyone,” Walmart execs write on the company blog. “Designed to be effortlessly stylish, EV1 was inspired by Ellen’s own confidence and optimism.”

In the announcement, the TV personality sums it up in a single word: “Adorableness.”

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While the openly gay DeGeneres has become a style icon famous for her comfy casual vibe and endless sneaker collection, she’s also been a lightning rod. Back in 2012, she starred in a JCPenney ad campaign that drew the wrath of One Million Moms, an anti-gay group. (DeGeneres helpfully pointed out that on its Facebook page, it has fewer than 100,000 members. “Guess they round up to the nearest million,” she told her audience.)

In addition to her own lifestyle brand, ED, which includes tabletop, furniture, linens and pet gear, she has partnered with the Gap on a girl-friendly clothing line called Gap Kids X Ellen DeGeneres, launched in 2015.

The following year, the Gap apologized after an ad for the collection kicked over a bee’s nest on Twitter, with many viewers saying the photo, which showed a white girl propping herself up on an African-American child’s head, as racially insensitive.

Walmart has been struggling to step up its style game, introducing a new partnership with Lord & Taylor, and buying up online retailers with strong millennial appeal, including Modcloth, Bonobos and Moosejaw.

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