Terry Crews is known to millions thanks to his work as an NFL player, actor on Brooklyn 99, and host of America's Got Talent. But now it's his wife of 35 years Rebecca's turn to shine, as she opens her first store in Los Angeles, four years after launching her womenswear brand that has been worn by the likes of Avril Lavigne, Christina Milian and Cynthia Bailey.
"For me it just felt like, 'Now it's my turn to do some things I want to do,'" the 58-year-old tells HELLO! of the decision to go into fashion, after mostly being a stay-at-home mom and pastor for three decades
"I didn't go into it with any really hard expectations, I just said to my husband, 'Let's take a budget and we'll see how it goes."
© Rodin EckenrothIt was in the middle of 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic that she felt the urge to begin designing after a lifetime of watching her own mother struggle to find well-fitted women's suits.
She began by making blazers and jackets for herself, and then was scouted to host a pop-up in Saks Fifth Avenue "on the second floor right next to Carolina Herrera, and Michael Kors".
© Randy ShropshireThe support from her husband and children has helped her to continue this passion. Rebecca is mom to Naomi, 37, Azriél, 33, Tera, 26, Wynfrey, 21, and Isaiah, 19, and Tera works in the store as a salesperson.
"To a large degree it's mom's thing but my girls love fashion," she says.
"I have a couple of little fashionistas that love to shop, and they have a beautiful sense of style and enjoy what I do and they've given me suggestions, they've put their two cents in – I have one daughter who said, 'Mom, you should do shapewear,' and I can see that. But at the same time, I think that's down the line for me, but they're thinking big."
© Rodin EckenrothUp next for Rebecca is the goal of selling to the public: "We've been doing a lot with stars which is wonderful but notoriety doesn't always drive sales and so we're trying to tap into our customer here in Southern California, and my next goal would be another store in the US, Houston maybe being one of them."
Her core customer is the stylish working woman who may have had children and has "hips and thighs," and she plans to continue expanding her sizing range; it currently goes up to 16.
© Randy Shropshire"A lot of suit wear that is made for women on the high end is not made for women who have children, who have hips and thighs," says Rebecca.
"We started at six to 14 on our first launch and everything had stretch in it – because African American women, we're curvier, we've got more thighs, we've got more in the back –and I knew that trying to fit myself that there are other women that have those same issues. So, we didn't even go into the zeroes, twos and fours."But we did go down a little smaller on our cashmere and our leather, and our fall suit we have now a 16. And so we would love to up those numbers but I'm still a mom and pop store right now."
