Melissa McCarthy Wants to Build Women Up (While Kissing Jon Stewart’s Face)
From Gilmore Girls to Bridesmaids and beyond, Melissa McCarthy is a new brand of American Sweetheart—one who could be your best friend or your “screw the haters” life coach. One who makes you laugh so hard, you almost forget your own name.
But the Ohio native isn’t just an Oscar-nominated actress and comedian—she’s also a trained fashion designer who studied, pre-stardom, at the prestigious Fashion Institute of Technology. So when she announced the imminent launch of her clothing line, Melissa McCarthy Seven7 Collection, we suspected it wasn’t just another Hollywood licensing deal, but instead, the real deal.
Turns out, we were right. The range, for women sizes 4 through 24, is an actual wardrobe that you can wear to work, to parties, or even to watch Mike & Molly reruns on the couch. So we rang McCarthy—on break from filming the hotly anticipated Ghostbusters remake with Kristin Wiig—to talk about the project. And yes, afterwards, we wanted to be her best friend, but I guess we’ll settle for getting the jeans…
YS: People don’t know much about your fashion design days. Didn’t you live with Brian Atwood in Manhattan?
MM: Brian Atwood was one of my closest friends since high school! He’s why I moved to New York City. I wanted to finish college at FIT, so I moved in with him, somewhere in Murray Hill. He did not tell me until I got to the city that he was crashing on someone’s couch. I was like, “Brian, is this your apartment?” It was one of those things you could only get away with when you’re 20 years old—he had me move to NYC to stay on someone else’s couch! That girl he was staying with, by the way, hated my guts. And then the second day I was there, I did stand-up in the city, and that was it. Forty-eight hours into my New York fashion career, I said, “Mom, I’m not going back to college. I’m doing stand-up comedy.”
YS: And your mom promptly flew to New York to get you.
MM: No! Strangely, my parents said “okay.” It’s weird you mention that, because it wasn’t until three or four months ago, when I finally said to my mom, “Why on earth did you not say, ‘Uh, no, you’re going to college.’ Her answer was, ‘I thought the fashion business was unstable.’ But stand-up comedy was real rock solid, mom!
YS: What kind of fashion designer did you want to be?
MM: The kind that had big theatrical runway shows of clothes you can’t wear. I made whole scrapbooks that I still have of Gaultier. He was absolutely my favorite. I was obsessed with the thought of dysfunctional, wearable art. I loved the theatrics of it, which makes more sense now that I’m an actress and I love costumes so much.
YS: And now?
MM: Now, I want to make clothing for women, all women, which is why I did this line. We don’t stop at a certain size or shape. I find it very bizarre that there are stores for women that are one size and shape, and separate stores for another. It’s like saying, “I’m making men’s clothing but only for Southerners, and only for Southerners who like this kind of music.”
YS: Oh, there is a line for that. It’s called Lacoste.
MM: Ha! That is an excellent point. But isn’t it weird?
YS: My favorite thing about the line is, because it’s in sizes 4–24, you can shop with your friends. Like, if I’m a size 18 and my friend is a size 6, we can still go shopping together.
MM: Exactly. I’ve been a 6. I’ve been a 12. And it’s like, I can’t shop with my friends?! If you’re above a 10, you can’t find anything in a store—and 65% of women are a 14. It doesn’t even work mathematically, besides ethically, or any way. To take the main group of women out there, and tell them, “you’re not worth making something for?” That’s so insane. It’s a systematic tearing down of women. It’s just as easy to build women up. And I want to work on the incline of women, not the decline.
YS: As an actress, how much input do you have in your own costumes?
MM: I think something important is how you can build a character on clothing. I always start with a wig and with clothing. Then the voice comes. Then the movement comes… It all starts with the look. I work really closely with the designers on films—what the character wears is such a part of who she is. What’s funny is, I’m wearing a bunch of my clothes from this line in Ghostbusters. I was in my jeans and one of my sweaters, laying on my back with my proton pack, fighting ghosts. I was like, “This is so surreal! I’m fighting a ghost in my own sweater?”
YS: Can you tell us anything else about the Ghostbusters costumes?
MM: Like, are we in those iconic jumpsuits? Yes. We are in those iconic jumpsuits. We put them on the first day, and we were all beside ourselves. We were like, “This is real! We are so legit! We are the Ghostbusters!” And fashion-wise, anything that brings about a jumpsuit situation, I’m all for. Three years ago, when I was first talking to people about doing a line, I said to a company that was interested, “I want to do jumpsuits primarily.” They said, “Get out.” But I’m still serious.
YS: You made a dress with Jon Stewart’s face on it for your final appearance on The Daily Show. Did you send it to him?
MM: No, that dress is still in my house in LA. Sometimes, I take it out, I kiss Jon’s face, and I put it back. When they start showing Daily Show reruns, I’m going to sit in the dress, watch the reruns, and cry. Just know, Jon. I’m in LA, crying, watching you!
