“Mad Men” may have ended in 2015, but women are still obsessed with Joan Holloway’s style.
“I’d travel around the world doing events and speaking to women, and it was always the curvy women who’d be like, ‘When are you going to create a line for us? When are we going to have cute dresses like Joan’s?'” the series’ Emmy-winning costume designer, Janie Bryant, told Page Six Style.
Later this month, Bryant’s finally answering fans’ prayers with the launch of JXB by Janie Bryant, her new womenswear collection for sizes 12 through 24.
While the line includes plenty of modern staples like a rose gold leather jacket and high-waisted denim, other pieces — like an embellished cashmere sweater with puff sleeves and a second-skin zippered pencil skirt — seem plucked from Christina Hendricks’ character’s closet.
“I can’t help myself,” Bryant joked of the collection’s many vintage-inspired touches. “If there’s a ruffle or a bow, I’m into it!”
This isn’t the costume pro’s first time designing for the masses: She’s collaborated with Banana Republic, QVC and Unique Vintage on ’60s-inspired collections in the past. But she said: “I didn’t want to do another collection for sizes 0 to 10, because the market is already oversaturated. I wanted to do something special.”
And while JXB’s price point is high (think $298 for denim, $480 for knits, $660 for silks and just over $1,000 for leather items), Bryant pointed out that there’s a striking lack of plus-size options in the luxury fashion space.
“Feminine, flirty and figure-defining — that was really the story I wanted to tell with the whole collection,” Bryant concluded.
Joan Holloway would most certainly approve.