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Keke Palmer's "Aspirational Street Style" Is About Giving Millennial Designers A Chance

Like many child actors, actress Keke Palmer underwent a major — and public — transformation from her time as the pint-sized star of Akeelah and the Bee to her sassy role on Scream Queens.

Now 23, Palmer has developed a unique fashion sensibility that is unapologetically over-the-top, and most definitely one-of-a-kind. With the help of her stylist, former Nylon fashion-closet intern Mikiel Benyamin, also 23, Palmer has been carving out a special niche with her red-carpet and street style, fusing sexy looks from up-and-coming designers — including L.A.-based Bryan Hearns and Kardashian-favorite Yousef Akbar — with nods to style stars of the early aughts, like Lil Kim and Toni Braxton.

Palmer's style prowess most recently landed her a collection with ShoeDazzle, the JustFab affiliate which offers all its styles, including booties, flats and stilettos, for $39.95 each. At the launch of her second collection for the brand, Pret-a-Reporter caught up with the actress and stylist Benyamin (dressed in a hot pink shearling coat left over from one of Keke's shoots — "when she's done with it I can have it," he says). We talked shoes, her style evolution and those Leonardo DiCaprio pants.

What were your thoughts when designing this collection? Was the goal to make it more accessible?

I wanted to make it very accessible, which is why I thought ShoeDazzle was such a great partnership. I’m so happy about the relationship we’ve built because they totally get me. It’s all about street but sweet. Keeping it fun but funky — trendy, but the products are made so well so it’s not going to fall apart on you just because they're inexpensive. At the same time you can get the trends that you can reuse every season, like the high boot with the strings and different cut outs.

Do you have a favorite style from this season’s collection?

Probably the [Noni]. It has a little bit of the essence of a sock boot, which I’m really loving, and a peep toe which is really fun and cool. Plus it’s stable which means it’s not going to hurt when you walk around.

Your personal style has really evolved over the years, and you now take so many risks. Did something precipitate this style evolution?

Totally. I would say it’s what I went through, and how I got to the point of really accepting myself. That transition, mentally, really became an external transition as well. I started to become more free. When you accept yourself more, you become confident in your creative choices. You don’t think twice about it, you just go for it.

On the other end of it, I also met Mikiel [Benyamin], my stylist, and he understands aspirational street style, which I couldn’t find in a stylist before. I love street style, I love ‘90s. That’s my vibe. A lot of people wouldn’t be able to help me always elevate that, like when I go on the carpet or when I want to make it glam. They wouldn’t get that, they would glamify it without my character. So working with him is awesome because he gets it, and he knows how to support all these different brands new ones, too.

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