Caelynn Bell rose to fame participating in pageants and starring on Colton Underwood's season of The Bachelor, but over the years, she's really learned what makes her happy, which includes venturing into the fashion world.
"When I met [my husband] Dean Bell, I fell into this weird world where I'm a former pageant girl. I love clothes, I love fashion, but I also love hiking and van life, so it's fun to have a bunch of different interests," the star, 28, exclusively tells Morning Honey while talking about the launch of the .
"There's something that brings me so much joy when it comes to creating products. It's something I love, and I might as well follow that passion," she continues.
Since the model loves to dabble in a little bit of everything, she really enjoyed working with Dillard's on the Caelynn Bell x Gianni Bini Collection, which features a selection of strappy open-toed heels, sandals, floral prints, whites and delicate colors perfect for spring.
"It's been a few weeks since we've launched, and it's kind of been a year in the making. Dillard's and Gianni Bini kind of gave me full creative freedom, which was nice because I've worked with other brands in a collaborative form like this before and haven't been given that freedom. It was really a unique experience in that way to be able to design any piece I wanted. There's this white dress called the Mary that I'm bummed I didn't have for my own wedding, but it's very bridal or you could pair it with cowboy boots. I wanted everything to be pretty versatile," she shares of her vision.
As for how the brunette beauty got inspired, she turned to her Pinterest board. "I wrote out a lot of things because I'm not good at sketching. I wanted romantic pieces, sexy pieces — a mix of everything," she says. "There's this dress which is very delicate but almost this sheer material. It's kind of girlie and princessy but also has this sheerness and is sexy. It's a mix of both. I sent over my ideas and then we would would make adjustments along the way."
"I kind of gravitated toward what I would wear," she adds of the process. "I wanted to make sure I loved the pieces. When naming the pieces, I was like, 'Oh, my sister would wear this.' I kind of named all of the pieces after what I think they'd wear. The Allie set is named after one of my best friends. I was like, 'This is so Allie.'"
After this venture into the fashion world, Caelynn says she's "definitely learned a lot."
"One of my best friends has a clothing brand and she will shoot her line and she's like, 'I am so sick of these clothes. I've been looking at them for a year.' Thankfully, I'm not at that point, but it's been a year of staring at these clothes, but fortunately, they are pieces I love," she notes. "Another challenging thing was style forecasting because you can watch the runways and think you know what will be popular in a year, but it could change. I tried to pick trending colors. The team definitely helped guide me at first. There were so many different colors and they put all their fabrics on the board and were like, 'These go well together.' I'm also very much a neutrals person, so the line was to start from neutrals and then we incorporated some color."
"It was a dream come true to work on this. I love creating things, and I think clothes are tricky — but fun. I would love to start my own thing, maybe jewelry," she says. "Just seeing it come to life was so cool."
After appearing on the small screen, Caelynn, who looks to Sofia Richie for fashion inspiration, has been fortunate enough to find her niche over the years. "It's been cool to build a community of people that bond over clothes. One of my favorite things to do is chat with someone in my DMs and create a mood board for them if they're going on a trip or graduating from school. It's nice to bond in that way."
Though it's been "scary" to dive into something new, Caelynn always wants to come across as authentic and genuine. "Both jewelry and clothing markets are so saturated, and it can be hard because there's so many successful brands out there. I think that's why it has taken me so long. I thought, 'Why would I try and compete when someone's already doing it so well?' What I've realized through working with Dillard's is I want to create things I love and that are true to me. I think that is what sets me apart," she says. "I'm ready to take that next step."
"I want to try new things, and if I fail, that's OK," she concludes.
To check out the collection, click here.