Yes, Reese Witherspoon Has Visited Oprah’s Vegetable Garden
Sometimes I just wake up in the morning and wish I were Reese Witherspoon. (Obviously, I should get some more realistic goals.) The actress and producer is ultra-talented, always impeccably dressed, and utterly charming. The characters she plays—whether it’s the determined Elle Woods in classic rom-com Legally Blonde or the nosy, passionate Madeline Mackenzie in Emmy-sweeping HBO series Big Little Lies—radiate with a fierce energy and warm wit, which no doubt stem from the woman herself.
You might also know that Witherspoon is an entertaining aficionado, and the creator of lifestyle brand Draper James, so it’s no surprise that Crate & Barrel tapped her to be their newest ambassador. ELLE.com sat down with Witherspoon to talk holiday entertaining tips, whiskey cocktails, and what Oprah’s garden is really like. (Yes, Witherspoon has been there—and yes, she might have sneaked something out.)
Draper James is doing a collaboration with Crate & Barrel in the new year. What can we expect to see from that?
Well, three years ago, I started Draper James, just to give people a window into what it means to be a Southern woman, and into Southern entertaining. I grew up with my grandma entertaining every Sunday night, she would cook this big dinner, and sometimes it was just family and sometimes it was a big party. So I wanted to show people what that’s like: It’s a lot of friendliness, grace, and charm. This collaboration with Crate and Barrel will involve their beautiful products, which have such timeless style. They’re beautifully made and high quality. So we’ll just be infusing that with some Southern charm.
There’s a lot of that Southern warmth in Draper James items—some of the items have the cutest slogans or sayings printed on them.
Oh, then you’re going to be really excited. You just hold on, sister!
Is there one in the range that will be particularly you?
Crate and Barrel Announces Partnership with Reese Witherspoon
Global home furnishings retailer Crate and Barrel has announced it is working with entrepreneur, Academy Award-winning actress and critically acclaimed producer Reese Witherspoon as the brand’s newest ambassador. The ongoing partnership, which will also incorporate Witherspoon’s own lifestyle and fashion brand Draper James, kicks off today with the launch of Crate and Barrel’s holiday advertising campaign.
As someone who has expressed a longtime love of design and entertaining personally and, most recently, via the creation of Draper James in 2015, Reese Witherspoon was a natural partner for the brand. Both Reese and Crate and Barrel exude timelessness infused with modernity through everything they do and create, resulting in the perfect synergy for a collaboration.
“We are honored to work with Reese, who expresses so many of the best qualities of our brand—style, warmth, and optimism,” said Crate and Barrel President Steve Woodward. “Reese has shown the world she has an eye for design, and we’re thrilled for her to showcase that as an ambassador for the company. Reese truly brings the unique Crate and Barrel experience and spirit to life.”
The holiday campaign, “Make This Season Merry and Just Right,” features Reese entertaining friends and family at home, accompanied by her favorite products from Crate and Barrel. The campaign – created by Crate and Barrel’s Agency of Record Preacher – includes several national TV spots and placements across multiple digital and social platforms that will air through the end of the year.
This holiday season, Crate and Barrel will also highlight select gifts from Draper James, both in stores and online at crateandbarrel.com. As a part of their longer-term relationship, Crate and Barrel and Draper James will release co-designed collections for Spring and Summer 2018 and beyond.
Reese celebrated her Draper James Fall Collection by making an appearance at the South Coast Plaza Nordstrom in Costa Mesa, California yesterday. She posed for photos and took the microphone to introduce the collection. She wore a little blue floral dress from the collection for the event. Find HQ photos in our Gallery:
Reese earned another important accolade today – she was named on Fortune magazine’s Most Powerful Women list. Fortune’s Most Powerful Women list is a ranking that is put out every year looking at the 50 most powerful women in business. Four criteria are considered: the size and importance of the business, the direction of the business, the social and cultural relevance, and the trajectory of the woman’s career. Reese was not eligible for the main 50, but was featured as their special ‘number 51’ – read more below, and see the full list here:
Fortune’s Most Powerful Women
It’s MPW day. It’s a big day for us here at Fortune MPW HQ: The 2017 list of the Most Powerful Women in Business is out!
Racing into the top spot—for the third year in a row—is General Motors CEO Mary Barra. Rounding out the top 5: PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi (more on her later), Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn Hewson, Fidelity CEO Abigail Johnson, and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg.
In all, the list includes seven newbies, one return, and 26 CEOs who, together, control a total market cap of $1.1 trillion. We have all the juicy details—including who’s off, who’s on, and who’s on our radar—below.
But before we get to that, it’s worth pointing out that this year marks Fortune’s 20th list, a testament to the importance we place on charting and celebrating these women’s careers. For more, I encourage you to read this editor’s letter, in which our fearless leader, Cliff Leaf, reflects on the history—and continuing necessity—of the ranking. As my co-editor on the list, Beth Kowitt, tells Cliff, covering the ever-evolving story of women in business is “complicated—and critically important, surprising, fascinating, and inspiring too.”
MORE FROM THE MPW ISSUE
• New women on the block. While the MPW list always includes women from a diverse range of businesses, this year’s newcomers have raised the bar: all seven hail from different industries. From energy (PG&E CEO Geisha Williams) to toys (Mattel CEO Margo Georgiadis) to retail (Ulta Beauty CEO Mary Dillion), they provide a peek into the diversity of global business today.
• MPWs in waiting. While these 10 women didn’t make the official list, they did catch our eye. We wouldn’t be surprised to see many of them grace the top 50 ranking in years to come…
• She’s No. 51, y’all. We have a tradition of naming a “bonus” MPW—No. 51—a distinction that goes to a woman who doesn’t technically fit our parameters when it comes to P&L and market cap, but who nevertheless captures the list’s powerful, business-savvy spirit. This year that spot goes to Hollywood multihyphenate Reese Witherspoon. For those keeping score at home, Witherspoon has launched a lifestyle startup as well as a multi-platform content company; and produced hits including Gone Girl, Wild, and Emmy fav Big Little Lies—all while still landing big, juicy acting roles for herself.
Reese appeared on CBS’s This Morning earlier today – she chatted more about Big Little Lies, how she changed the course of her career in recent years, her upcoming project with Jennifer Aniston, and Draper James. Watch the video below and find HD screencaptures in our gallery:
Reese chatted about Home Again, roles for women in TV/film, Big Little Lies, A Wrinkle In Time, and her upcoming TV show with Jennifer Aniston on Good Morning America today. She also talked about her kids and Ava’s upcoming 18th birthday! Reese was then joined by her Home Again co-stars and director to chat more about their film. Watch the interview below, and find stills and HD screencaptures in our Gallery:
Reese is gracing the cover of the September issue of Southern Living magazine! In the interview she talks about Draper James and her influences for this brand, her family life, and briefly about Big Little Lies and some of her favourite actresses work on screen. The interview is accompanied by a beautiful, laid back photoshoot showcasing items from Draper James.
Read the article and watch behind the scenes videos within this post, and find the photoshoot in our Gallery. We’ll have scans for you asap…
Reese Witherspoon’s Southern Charm
The Nashville native opens up to Julia Reed about family, her favorite hometown foods, and the Southern women who have inspired her every step of the way
What did you do for Mother’s Day?
We had lots of people over for lunch, including Laura Dern [Witherspoon’s close friend and costar in Wild and Big Little Lies] and her mom, [actress] Diane Ladd, who has become friends with my mom. It’s pretty cute—they really love each other and talk all the time. They’re even planning on taking a road trip together!
In my family, we say, “It doesn’t have to be true to be told.” At lunch, my mom was telling a story about when I moved out here and how she found my apartment and paid for it. I said, “Mom, you know none of that’s true, right?” I found my own apartment, and she did not do any of it! But most of the time, I don’t even bother to interrupt…I think there’s nothing better than a Southern person as they age. The stories get better and better and less and less true.
You often visit Nashville, where you’ve said you’re “so much more relaxed.” But Nashville is not nearly as relaxed—or sleepy— as it was when you were growing up there. How has it changed?
Lately, Nashville has experienced a lot more commerce, a lot of growth, and a lot of new ideas, which is awesome. And you can’t throw a rock without hitting some new culinary surprise. I like Hattie B’s Hot Chicken. Edley’s Bar-B-Que has great fried okra, one of my favorite foods. City House and Rolf and Daughters are really good, and Josephine is great for brunch. Five Daughters Bakery has the best doughnuts, and if we want a meat ’n’ three, we go to Swett’s Restaurant.
Big Little Lies (2019) Seasons 1 & 2 available now on HBO Role: Madeline Genre: HBO TV Series - Drama News / Info / Photos / Official Site
The Morning Show (2019) Season 1 available now on AppleTV+ Season 2 filming now Role: Bradley Jackson Genre: Apple TV+ Series - Drama News / Info / Photos / Official Site
Little Fires Everywhere (2020) Season 1 available now on Hulu/Prime Video Role: Elena Richardson Genre: Hulu TV Series - Drama News / Info / Photos / Official Site
Sing 2 (2020) To be released December 22nd 2021 Role: Rosita Genre: Animation, comedy, musical News / Info / Photos / Official Site
Legally Blonde 3 (2022) In production - to be released May 2022 Role: Elle Woods Genre: Comedy News / Info / Photos / Official Site
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Big Little Lies (2019)
The Morning Show (2019)
