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“I want to be a fresh breath of air,” explains Nicole Jennings, entrepreneur and owner of Queen Anna House of Fashion. That’s her vision for spring fashion, and she seems to have hit that mark. When you open her boutique’s door in Minneapolis’ North Loop, you pass through floor-to-ceiling windows, creating an atmosphere that saturates your senses with light and ingenuity.
What’s “in” for spring 2023? Jennings says shades and hues of blue, including varieties of denim, alongside Pantone’s color of the year, Viva Magenta, a crimson red variation. And don’t forget to incorporate patterns as well as flats. The self-described functional fashionista does say one thing is “out” this season: not presenting your authentic self. “Dress for your occasion, not the occasion,” she says.
The business founder, philanthropist, wife of former Vikings wide receiver Greg Jennings, and mother of four is revealing new layers of her fashion acumen. Beyond the core outfit, she is known for cleverly arranging and stacking accessories and combining outerwear and shoes to make an outfit come alive: “Tap into who you are—heart, body, and soul—and then dress that person.”
She says that the person she is has changed over time. “I actually think fashion is the articles of clothing, and style is what you do with those.” But one thing, she says, has stuck through the years: “I have to admit, I’ve always been an unapologetic person.”
Jennings, who has a bachelor’s degree in nursing, says she never had a plan to open a business, but when her great-grandmother, who raised her, passed away, she felt the need to do something in her honor. “I wanted to empower and inspire women in the way my great-grandmother Anna did for me.”
Now, more than a century after her great-grandmother was born, Jennings keeps Anna’s fashion sense, wisdom, and confidence at the heart of her operation. “Anybody can sell clothes. I think we sell a way of life.”
