Although Sheila Johnson has reached the pinnacle of moguldome--she's one of the founding partners of BET, owns three professional sports teams (WNBA’s Washington Mystics, NBA’s Washington Wizards and the NHL’s Washington Capitals), serves as CEO of Salamander Hotels and produces feature films--she now has her sights set on fashion design with a new line of luxury scarves.
The fancy wrap-arounds simply called "Sheila Johnson" are printed with digital photographs taken by the businesswoman. Picturesque scenes from Johnson's home in Virgina and world travels to Uganda, Rwanda and Haiti make up the premiere collection, which retail for $475 each and are handcrafted in Italy and made of a delicately knit modal fabric.
"I had the idea of putting the images of what I see on scarves, so that people can share my passion and be inspired by what I see through the lens of a camera," Johnson said in a short video about the collection via her website.
And her inspiring message will have a bigger impact than simply jazzing up an outfit. A portion of the proceeds from the scarves will be donated to the national women's street soccer team she founded called the Lady Salamanders, which is made up of homeless women from around the country. The not for profit organization, whose motto is "ending homelessness and poverty is a team sport," provides the women with programs targeted at employment, education and counseling.
Furthermore, Johnson plans on donating money to Haiti through the sale of scarves printed with photos from a trip to the earthquake-stricken island she took with fashion designer Donna Karan.
The scarves are currently available online, but look out for them at retailers this fall.
Check out how the accessories were created in the video at the top--and here's a look at the Johnson's first collection of scarves called "Interludes" in the slideshow below.
Before You Go
