You’d think the tough economy will slow down celebrity designers. Well, maybe some, but that’s not the case with pop icon Justin Timberlake. His clothing line, William Rast, has launched an aggressive global retail expansion. On November 1st William Rast opened 3 stores in California, heralding the launch of 40 to 50 units by year 2012.

Images via WWD

Now you can visit the newly opened shops at Westfield Century City shopping mall, Westfield Valley Fair shopping mall in San Jose and an outlet store at the Desert Hills Premium Outlets in Cabazon. Next year, stores are planned to be opened in Chicago, New York, San Diego, Las Vegas, Miami and Scottsdale, Arizona. Kicking its way into the international waters, William Rast will also invade Germany, the United Kingdom and Japan. WWD also reported that you can expect to see the brand’s introduction of shoes!

Unlike other celebrity brands, William Rast almost has no visible sign of Justin Timberlake in its stores. Stepping out of the cliche is done deliberately to distance the brand from the cult of personality that often swarms a celebrity brand. Colin Dyne, chief executive officer of People’s Liberation, the mother ship of the brand stated:

“We’ve always made sure that it’s about the product first. We use Justin in the right ways. He was in our first ad campaign and he’ll be in our next ad campaign.”

We think William Rast is way cool from the start and this season, we managed to fall in love with all of their pieces. But here are our two favorites:

William Rast Waistcoat, $195.00

William Rast Outerwear Jacket, $395.oo

Show William Rast today!

Celebrity designer / socialite / mom, Nicole Richie, expands her fashion business with a contemporary women’s line called Winter Kate -the name is taken from her daughter Harlow’s two middle names-. Prior to releasing Winter Kate, Nicole has already started her fashion business with the accessories line, House of Harlow 1960 and a maternity collection called Nicole for A Pea in the Pod. The mom of two stated:

“It feels as though I’ve always been working on this collection, but officially I started putting it together in early 2009. I’ve wanted to design a clothing collection for a very long time.”

The clothing line embodies Nicole’s personal style and includes mostly tops, vests and bed jackets in colorful vintage-inspired silk, crepe and chiffon. Nicole is known for her sixties and seventies flair, although at the same time oozing today’s contemporary air in her everyday look.

“I probably wear the same two pairs of jeans every day as the background to a fabulous top. Bed jackets are a staple of my wardrobe because they are a gorgeous way to give jeans and a white T-shirt a completely different look.”

Sneak Preview of Nicole Richie's Winter Kate Collection

Image via WWD

The Winter Kate collection’s main pieces also feature long slip dresses, asymmetrical short dresses, tunics and kimono-sleeved maxi dress. Nicole Richie shares some tips on how to pull her Bohemian loveliness with Winter Kate’s fabulous pieces:

“I purposely made the slip dresses in both solids and prints. Wear the prints by themselves or with a great vest or jacket and wear the solids as basics to an outfit with many layers.”

Winter Kate will hit major stores such as Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Ron Herman, INtermix and Kitson in February 2010, with a price range of $35.00 up to $598.00 -that’s from the simplest camisole top to the leather pieces. Nicole also has some thoughts about this:

“Fashion should be accessible. That was my philosophy when designing House of Harlow 1960 and it remains my philosophy for Winter Kate.”

Speaking of House of Harlow 1960, here are some pieces we love today which might be good to pair with the upcoming Winter Kate collection:

House of Harlow 1960 Gold Aztec Leather Bangle in Cream, $72.50

House of Harlow 1960 3-Strand Triangle Bead Head Piece in Gold, $100.00

Check out Nicole Richie’s House of Harlow collection!

Lil Wayne pleaded guilty to his alleged involvement with a loaded 40-caliber pistol gun found in his tour bus back in 2007. The rapper faced 15 years in jail for each count of criminal weapons possession and criminal possession of a loaded weapon.

Weezy is rumored to be getting a deal which says: if he pleads guilty, he’ll be able to avoid a long term in jail over the gun and only end up with an 8-month lock-up. And if he continue to plead not guilty, he’ll be put away for a long time.

Weezy originally pleaded not guilty but with his guilty plea, as we mentioned before, he will only face a maximum of 1 year in jail.

This will not be the end as the rapper has another trial in March for possession of a narcotic drug, narcotic drugs for sale, possession of dangerous drugs, misconduct involving weapons and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia in Arizona back in January 2008.

Hope everything turns out right, Weezy.

Fergie of the Black Eyed Peas is it kicking it hard in the beauty business, this year she’s been tapped to do her own fragrance with Avon, joining other celebrities who have been collaborated with the beauty brand such as Reese Witherspoon; Patrick Dempsey and his wife, makeup artist Jillian Dempsey; Courteney Cox; Derek Jeter; Jennifer Hudson, and Salma Hayek. Fergie is delighted about the deal:

“I love the roster of women Avon has supported. Each one is completely different, but they are all wonderful, strong women who have a purpose. It was very important to me to bring what I have to the table. I’m a bit more rock ’n’ roll than some of the other artists, and Avon has really allowed my personality to come through.”

Word is the name and the details of the fragrance are still being kept under wraps, but Fergie let her fans into some hints:

“The vibe for the scent is for the woman who wears it to feel confident and not be afraid to be noticed.”

Sounds empowering.

This isn’t Fergie’s first collaboration with a beauty product. Last year she partnered with MAC Cosmetics’ Viva Glam campaign to raise money and awareness for the MAC AIDS fund.

The Avon x Fergie fragrance is scheduled to drop in Fall 2010. We’ll keep our eyes and ears open!

So Kim Kardashian announced in her blog today that she and her siblings, Kourtney and Khloe, are going to pour their artistic abilities into fashion design and they’re going to design for fashion retail giant, Bebe. There’s no hinting of them leaving their boutique business D-A-S-H, as Kim stated to Life and Style:

“We’re branching out. We have a line coming up that we’ve designed for Bebe. So that’s what we’re focusing on right now.”

The Kardashian girls have signed a five-year contract with Bebe and will have each of their own signature lines to design for.

“We each have our signature pieces. Khloé has her collection, Kourtney has hers and I have mine. It’s so exciting.”

The Kardashian sisters are some of the trendiest girls in Hollywood, and we think Bebe is the right partner to accommodate their sexy, sassy and stylish personalities. What do you expect to see from their designs? Discuss, people!

Meanwhile, check out some of Kim Kardashian’s picks from her boutique: D.A.S.H.

Well, something tells us that there’s more to just going back to New York and continue where they left off.  A video was leaked yesterday, showing the Simmons Sisters having fun at work.

Doesn’t this leaked video look curiously similar to a Daddy’s Girls episode?  We think so too.  Could this be a teaser for the upcoming season of Daddy’s Girls?  There’s no word on what this is about, but it sure looks like the Simmons Sisters are having fun wherever they are.  Do you think it’s in Los Angeles or back home in New York?  And those are some CUTE Pastry shoes!

Speaking of Pastry Shoes, we’re just in love with their new collection of heels.  They’re fun, funky and feminine at the same time.  Here’s one that caught our eyes.

It’s called the Pastry Grape Fiorellino heels ($89.00).  Ain’t it cute?

So do you think Daddy’s Girls are going to make their comeback?  Which coast will it be this time?

Actress Lindsay Lohan used her celebrity to launch her 6126 leggings line in 2007 and this year her mom, Dina Lohan, is kicking off her shoe line. Something tells us this new business venture is an attempt to stay afloat… but we gotta say, it’s staying afloat with style. Here’s a sneak preview on what’s coming your way.

Looks quite adorable!

The “Shoe-Han” collection will be available in time for Mother’s Day, 2010.  Dina will also be the national spokesmodel for the shoe retailer LoveMyShoes.com and you can expect to see her on TV and radio ads later this month.

So, will you pair Dina’s shoes with Lindsay Lohan’s 6126 leggings?

The shutting down of Fetish did not just happen this time. A couple of years back, Eve put Fetish on hold when she and the apparel licensee, Inovo Group, had conflicts. After that, she partnered with another manufacturer called Signature Apparel and just last year they relaunched the more-upscale Fetish line we all know today.

No worries, though. There are still some Fetish items left on DrJays and we know you could use some to add to your collection. You might end up with a rare, classic collector’s item in the future, so it’s best to get your Fetish piece today. Moreover, DrJays is offering a FREE SHIPPING on orders of $150 or more. Don’t forget to enter code 1CKMYA at checkout to enjoy this privilege. This offer is good from today through Tuesday, October 13th 2009 at 11:59 PM EST.

Now, here are the Fetish stuff we think will be good to have as classics in your collection:

Fetish Scarlett Bustier, $14.99

Fetish Emma Faux Leather Motor Jacket $63.99

Fetish Rage Destroyed Skinny Jean, $31.99

Kim Kardashian might not be married (yet) like her sister, Khloe, but she’s blessed with lucrative deals such as her D-A-S-H boutique and her ShoeDazzle business. She’s also signed a deal with 50 Cent’s Lighthouse Beauty company recently, and is now gearing up to launch her first signature scent. WWD reported that Kim is super excited about the project and shared her fascination of fragrances ever since she was small:

“When I was little, my sister Kourtney and I tried to make our own perfume by picking flowers and putting them in the blender, because that’s how we thought fragrances were made. Our parents thought we were crazy — and it smelled totally gross!”

Kim is working with Claude Dir, a perfume expert from Givaudan and she’s been involved rather deeply in the project.

“I wanted something rich and creamy and sexy, but still youthful. I met with Claude and had an in-depth meeting about what I liked and didn’t like, and he and his team came up with seven samples based on that. I liked the base notes on one, the heart notes on another — we started mixing it up. I wanted to make sure I liked it in every single stage. It’s really cool to know that’s what is in this bottle is exactly how I want to smell.”

The beautiful bottle is designed by Scott Oshry and Sean Brosmith of Maesa, and Kim involved her fans’ opinions in determining which bottle design to use for her fragrance. She polled her 2.5 million followers on Twitter.

“I posted pictures of a hot-pink version and a pale-pink version and asked my fans to weigh in on which was better. The overwhelming favorite was the pale-pink cap — everyone said it looked more sophisticated. I really wanted to know what my fans preferred. They’ll be the ones buying it! We will continue to interact with fans this way on this project.”

The collection will consist of eaux de parfum stockkeeping units: 1 oz. which will retail for $32, 1.7 oz. for $45, 3.4 oz. for $65 and a 0.33-oz. rollerball for $16. Kim Kardashian’s signature scent fragrance will be available exclusively for the first 3 months after its February launch at Sephora and on other stores around Mother’s Day, 2010. Kim is also finishing up her second fragrance due to come out in 2011 and also in the talks of creating a cosmetics line.

Meanwhile, check out Kim Kardashian’s D-A-S-H Collection.

Today Joseph “Rev. Run” Simmons, leader of legendary hip hop group “Run DMC”, tweeted:

With that, we went straight to HSN and watched Justine Simmons live on HSNtv.  There it is, the newest collection of Justine Simmons’ Brown Sugar jewelry line.  Without further ado, here are some of our favorites!

Brown Sugar 5.70ct Smoky Quartz Sterling Silver and Goldtone 60″ Star Necklace, $199.90

Brown Sugar Multigemstone Sterling Silver 20-1/4″ 5-Row Necklace, $224.95

Brown Sugar 1.41ct Quartz Sterling Silver Inside-Outside Hoop Earrings, $199.90

Justine Simmons started her own jewelry line “Brown Sugar by Justine Simmons” in 2008 and the line has gotten raving reviews thanks to its quality, exquisite designs and reasonable prices. Guess she also has the Simmons’ Midas touch.  Everything the family touches seems to turn to gold.  Well, in Justine’s case, they turn into sterling silver with beautiful stones!

Check out other stuff of Brown Sugar by Justine Simmons on HSN today!