Hip-hop icon Queen Latifah knows exactly what she would do if she could get her hands on British royal Kate Middleton: rough her up.
The budding fashion designer, whose clothing line debuts on HSN this weekend, would like the princess to ditch the girly skirts and proper dresses. "I'd probably give her a pair of my skinny moto jeans and a fresh moto jacket with a cool tank, and I'd probably get her a nice pair of Ralph Lauren boots, throw her on a cool-ass motorcycle and tell her to go," Latifah tells NYMag.com. "But that's just me. I'm standing in New York, looking over the city, and I like to see a little ruggedness." Kate's slightly less femme sister, Pippa, however, gets flying colors from Latifah. "I think she has a great sense of taste. She knows how to have fun with the boys."
As for the Queen's clothing line? Don't expect a series of, well, sweatpants. "I really have expensive taste, to be honest with you," she confesses, claiming that was "probably the biggest adjustment" she had to make when designing for the budget-friendly retailer. Latifah describes her line as "sexy, but not unclassy-sexy."
As could be expected, Queen Latifah's clothes will work for more than just wafer-thin princesses. "There’s been a lack of respect for the women who wear that clothing, in my opinion," she says, likely drawing on her own experiences as a plus-sized model and spokesperson. "I think we should all have an opportunity to look good. We try to use stretchy materials. I made sure that a lot of the collars dropped so you don’t completely show your cleavage but you show a little sexiness. I tried to make things that I would wear and girls my size would also wear."
While Queen does tend to look, um, casual when snapped by the paps, homegirl always turns it out on the red carpet. And designing for girls who don't fit the princess mold? That's worthy of a bow.