Entrepreneur, model and social savvy babe Amber Rose rolls up to the iHeartRadio Much Music Video Awards red carpet in the passenger seat of a lime green Lamborghini, arresting the attention of every on-looker and camera lens in the vicinity. The socialite gracefully exits the two-door vehicle wearing a Herve Leger black bodysuit with butterfly sleeves and black cat-eye shades to match. In an hour or two, Amber Rose will be a presenter for the video awards, standing alongside stars such as Macklemore, Gigi Hadid and Nick Jonas.
However, just the day before, Rose opted for a slightly more laid back endeavour, making an appearance at Toronto’s MOGO boutique (797 Queen St. W.) where she held a pop-up shop for her clothing and eyewear collections. There she sported loose olive capris, a fitted matching long-sleeve top accented with a simple black choker and a black cap with ‘MUVA’ scrawled across the front in black thread.
The contrasting looks demonstrate how Amber Rose embodies the popular ‘get you a girl who can do both’ memes and turns heads no matter what she has on.
In the case of her Amber Rose Collection, the fashionista made the decision to create clothes she would personally wear on the day-to-day, according to her manager Tamika Campbell.
“When she’s not on a red carpet, this is what [she] wears around the house or to the mall,” says Campbell.
“She loves the feeling of being home and she loves to be comfy.”
“When she’s not on a red carpet, this is what [Amber] wears around the house or to the mall. She loves the feeling of being home and she loves to be comfy.”
The pop-up exhibited a series of cut-off hoodies, T-shirts and caps from the Amber Rose Collection, plus eyewear from her Bash Collection, named after her three-year-old son, Sebastian Taylor Thomaz. The clothing line follows the theme of being rugged, yet simple, with a colour palette of mainly black, white, grey and baby pink. Each piece is marked with Rose’s nickname MUVA, given to her by her Philadelphia fans as slang for ‘mother’.
“You know she has so many different derogatory names, or names in general, that people throw at her, [but] she has her own Philly slang that she embraces,” says Campbell.
The Amber Rose Collection incorporates some of those derogatory names, like “slut” and “thot”, to represent her constant courtship with controversy. These titles, often used to shame women, are names Rose has decided to re-invent as a form of female empowerment.
Campbell explains that Rose initially started the clothing line so that her fans, which she calls her ‘rosebuds’, could use it as an outlet to be shamelessly creative.
“We want people to buy it, cut it up and make it their own,” she says.
“It’s kind of like Coachella every day. Granted, it may have our logo on it, or our saying, but you know it’s like a canvas that we hand out to everyone to express them self. Kind of like our SlutWalk.”
At the start of October last year, Amber Rose hosted her own SlutWalk in downtown Los Angeles, a spin-off of a movement that originally began in Toronto in 2011 to protest rape culture. Amber’s walk was swarmed with supporters that ranged in age, race and gender, proudly holding up signs in alliance with the message that no one should be judged or condemned because of what they choose to do with their body. As a former stripper turned author, model, businesswoman and mother, with two high-profile relationships under her belt, it’s been a taxing journey for Rose. The 32-year-old has had her battles with headlines, social media haters and even exes for being outspoken and unapologetically embracing her sexuality. Her passion now lies with speaking out for women who are victims of stereotyping, sexism and rape culture.
While some may hail Rose as a budding leader in feminism, there are many others who denounce that claim.
As her clothing line continues to blossom with promises of new designs in the near future, Rose is also investing a great deal of energy into her new talk show “The Amber Rose Show”, which launched July 8 on VH1. The talk show aims to discuss topics that are sex positive with production from none other than talk show juggernaut Dr. Phil and a full-lineup of celebrity guests set to make an appearance.
“It’s about sex, it’s about love, it’s everything that everyone in the world wants to say or they want to ask, but they won’t, so she’ll do it for you,” Campbell explains.
While some may hail Rose as a budding leader in feminism, there are many others who denounce that claim. What’s undeniable is that through her bawdy clothing line and adopted SlutWalk movement, she is making a clear impact on the feminist initiative. Regardless of the various names she’s called every day, Amber Rose still refers to herself as just a regular girl from Philly.
Photos © Sadé Powell + Urbanology Magazine
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Wonder article. @sadepowell