Celebrity Style Profile: Amanda Bynes

About Amanda:

She's not afraid to play the goofball with slapstick antics on-screen, but in real life Amanda Bynes' style sense is no joke. I chatted with the movie star at the launch of her line "Dear" for Steve & Barry's, and she gave me the inside scoop on her fashion tastes and design inspirations.

Her New Clothing Line:

Amanda is red-hot right now, so it only made sense for her to expand her talents into fashion. When Steve & Barry’s called and asked her to design an affordable line of clothing, Amanda jumped at the chance. She explained how the collaboration came about: "They called me when I was doing Hairspray and they said 'We want you to design a line of clothes for Steve & Barry’s.' They said 'Sarah Jessica Parker is designing a line for us and we want you to be the other girl designing it.' It was such a big honor for me."

The Design Process:

Even though she's incredibly busy, Amanda is still a very hands-on designer for her new line. She said: "I was very involved in the design process. It’s like shopping in my own closet – it’s freaky! I wanted stuff that if I liked, then hopefully other people would like." She even went as far as to model some of the clothes after favorite items in her closet, explaining: "I brought in my own favorite jeans and said 'I want jeans that have this color, and this stretchiness,' for example."

Her Fashion Role Model:

When asked whom she admires in the fashion world, Amanda gushed: "Definitely Sarah Jessica Parker. I look up to her – she’s such a fashion icon and a role model. I think she does it all – she’s an actress but she’s very classy, and I think she does a really good job of doing it all."

Why the Line is Called Dear:

So how exactly did the name of the line become "Dear?" Amanda explained, "It came about because we were all sitting around a table looking at different prints for shirts, and there was a little silhouette of a deer, and I thought 'That’s really cute, what if we call the line "Dear?'" And so it just sort of clicked."

Her Design Future:

With her first collection a huge success at the store, you can expect to see a lot more of Amanda's "Dear" line in the future. She said: "I’m definitely going to be working with Steve & Barry’s for awhile, so we’ll be incorporating different things for all the different seasons. I’m contracted with them for 5 years – the same as Sarah Jessica Parker." But don't count on Amanda giving up acting anytime soon - she says that even though she loves designing, "performing is the thing that will always be the number one, pure love of my life."