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Melissa McCarthy has officically gone from one of Hollywood's top comedians to newly-minted fashion designer, launching her highly-anticipated clothing line. The Bridesmaids actress' new collection Melissa McCarthy Seven7, which caters from sizes from 4 to 28, has long been a dream of hers.
"It's always what I thought I would do," she told Vogue. "I went into clothing and textiles in college and moved to [New York] with [shoe designer] Brian Atwood."
Melissa McCarthy, center, has launched a new fashion line Photo: Melissa McCarthy/Seven7
In fact, it was her fashion designer friend who steered her towards a career in comedy, causing her to put aside her fashion career. "I was going to finish at FIT (the Fashion Institute of Technology) and he made me do stand-up on the second night!" she admitted.
When it came to designing the prints for her collection the actress, who is set to star in the upcoming all-female Ghostbusters film, admitted that she turned to some of her fashionable collections for a helping hand.
The star initially wanted to work in fashion before pursuing a career in Hollywood Photo: Melissa McCarthy/Seven7
"My friend designed these for me," she said, referring to some of the colorful prints in the collection. "He's an artist in Los Angeles and I told him to give me something really quick with energy. It's not too sweet."
Melissa, who has been hailed as a style icon for her fearless approach to red carpet fashion, admitted that she had kept plus-sized women in mind when creating the pieces.
"People don’t stop at size 12," she told More magazine. "I feel like there’s a big thing missing where you can’t dress to your mood above a certain number. [Malls] segregate plus-size. It’s an odd thing that you can’t go shopping with your friends because your store is upstairs hidden by the tire section: ‘We’ll put you gals over there because we don’t want to see you and you probably don’t want to be seen'."
"I want women to get dressed every day and feel good about themselves," she added.