Angelina Jolie’s New Clothing Line Store to Have a Café, Classes and Gallery: “I’ll Probably Lose Money”

Angelina Jolie has now entered the fashion game – and she’s here to win, given her innovative ideas!

Jolie spoke candidly about her life after divorce and gave readers a first peek at Atelier Jolie, her first fashion project in the most recent edition of WSJ magazine, published on December 5. The Mr. & Mrs. Smith actress opened the doors of her first Atelier Jolie store, whose location is in New York’s NoHo district and was once Jean-Michel Basquiat’s studio and residence.

In a series of arresting black-and-white images, the 48-year-old Academy Award winner—who acknowledged that she had “never been to a fashion show or Met Ball”—modeled a few items from her collection, per PageSix. The Salt actress wore a translucent black gown, a boxy blazer and skirt, and a black jacket with a long white cape fastened to the back, among other sleek, neutral ensembles. A huge canvas with a hand-painted design by artist Chaz Guest was displayed on one jacket; the price and availability were available upon request.

The NoHo store plans to sell both Atelier Jolie and sustainable fashion items made by other businesses. The magazine reported that Jolie wants her store to be such that “customers can bring in pieces they already own for adjustments, or create their own from scratch using deadstock fabric.”

In addition to being a conventional store, the area has a café named Eat Offbeat. Consistent with her commitment to humanitarian causes, the cafe is  “run by refugee and immigrant chefs” and lets customers purchase or make patches to personalize apparel. The store, also a gallery, will “host educational events focused on techniques such as silk-screening, studding and embroidery.” The Maleficient actress also says she “hopes to host salons on subjects including sustainability and art” in the future.

“If I can eventually put into practice some things that I think are improvements and I just break even, that’s a huge victory,” Jolie remarked, adding that she will “probably lose money, maybe even for a while” on her business.

Jolie said she wants to do something different and approach the industry differently. “What would be an ethical business? We are trying to reverse-engineer it a little bit,” the humanitarian said in her interview, with the mag sharing that Atelier Jolie “established a committee to guide the brand’s approach to sourcing and production.”

Although she acknowledges she doesn’t “know the answers,” the celebrity stated she wants to address several challenges in the business. “Can we avoid doing real damage—not only to the earth but the garment workers? … Is it possible that I could go somewhere and enjoy making clothes, enjoy wearing clothes, and not hurt anybody? And actually, maybe treat people well?” she mused.