Kristen Doute is going from serving tables to serving looks.
The “Vanderpump Rules” star relaunched her T-shirt company, James Mae, this past summer and is now preparing to launch a new collection for the upcoming season. She previously tried to launch the brand — named after her niece and nephew — in 2014.
“I just wasn’t very seasoned in the fashion world and so it didn’t go exactly as planned,” Doute recently explained to Page Six. “It was a really great learning curve for me, so when I decided to relaunch it, I brought in my partner Magen Mattox, who’s worked with many different lines … She had kind of that experience where I had the creativity and the platform. So just that was a really great partnership and we launched it pretty quickly when we started getting going … I just really hope that we keep growing and I really want the customers to know that we are listening.”
Doute, 36, reintroduced James Mae to the world on a recent episode of the Bravo show, and the cast has been modeling her designs since. Their popularity isn’t lost on her.
“Obviously the show has given us so much exposure,” she said. “In January when our launch party aired that was like a huge boom for us. And that’s kind of when we started selling out of everything.”
“I love my cast members so much. There is no better marketing [than having them wear the shirts]. We all went to Nashville for my birthday and I’m like, ‘This is my gift to all of you to go see Fleetwood Mac. It’s a big, big giant thank you for really supporting my brand and pushing it and really enjoying it too.’”
And while Stevie Nicks may have inspired her “gypsy” tee, some of her friends have inspired other designs.
“I definitely bounce ideas off of [everyone], especially the guys on the cast,” she said. “Specifically Tom Schwartz. Because I really want to know, what would you guys wear? Like what really speaks to you rather than just making them wear one of my shirts as a friend. I love that they’re all really enjoying it.”
Her co-star — and ex-boyfriend — Tom Sandoval even modeled some of her creations alongside his new girlfriend, Ariana Madix. Doute’s current boyfriend, Brian Carter, photographed them.
“It was just a simple question like, ‘Can you guys come over my house? I’ll have makeup here for you to get some really cute shots together,'” she said of the unlikely collaboration. “And they both absolutely were so excited about it. So that was a lot of fun. If you had asked me five years ago if Tom and Ariana would be at my house doing me a favor by shooting my T-shirt line with my boyfriend, I would call you crazy.”
“Jax and Brittany have just offered to help to be a part of our spring campaign so that makes me so happy too,” she added.
And there’s even a design for Lisa Vanderpump to wear if she’d like.
“I would give Lisa [a] Witches of WeHo [shirt],” Doute said. “I think Lisa needs to jump on the train and join the coven. Bottle of wine. T-shirt on…soon enough we’ll be best friends. She’ll be wearing my shirts and drinking our wine. Dreams. Dreams do come true.”
The tees, which range from $30-$38, are available on her website.