It wasn’t too long ago that we were glued to our TV screens watching Nastia Liukin win gold in Beijing. So when we got invited to meet up with her in NYC, we were totally pumped! Nastia is the global brand ambassador for the juniors’ clothing line, Vanilla Star, and she was promoting her new Gold Collection at the Macy’s in Herald Square. Before taking to her crowd of fans, the Olympian sat down with us to chat about Vanilla Star, her celebrity crush, and—oh, yeah—her cameo on Gossip Girl… - Claire
Nastia models two looks from her new Gold Collection
ELLEgirl: What’s your favorite item to wear from your Vanilla Star Gold Collection?
Nastia Liukin: I’m really into skinny jeans and so most of the
jeans in the collection are skinny jeans. But I know some people don’t
like them so we did make some boot cuts—but the skinny jeans I’m
wearing are probably one of my favorites.
EG: Who are your fashion inspirations?
NL: I love Blake Lively. She’s probably my favorite. You know,
Gossip Girl is my favorite show. But their style is pretty different on
the show than it is in real life. But I really like her. I just love
everything about her and her style. I’ve never met her. I got to meet
Leighton [Meester] when I filmed Gossip Girl, and she’s nothing like
Blair on the show! Totally different, but the nicest girl.
EG: What was it like, being on Gossip Girl?
NL: It was super short but I mean just to say I was on it and to meet Leighton and Ed [Westwick] was great! Now that I have more time on my hands, I’d love to do anything else, maybe guest star on some more TV shows. I like Degrassi and 90210. So it would be fun to do something like that, just like Gossip Girl, but maybe a little longer!
EG: Which of the Gossip guys is your favorite?
NL: Chace! He’s from Plano, Texas, like me! When I found that out – he went to Plano Senior High – I was like that’s so weird! But I didn’t go to public high school…
EG: Which celebrity would you most like to meet?
NL: Probably Blake and Chace! I only met Leighton and Ed because I was in the scene with them and then [Blake and Chace’s] call time was later so I’d already gone!
EG: You’re so stylish now—but is there anything back in the day that you regret wearing?
NL: I guess it’s only been the past few months after the Olympics that I’ve really gotten to go out and dress up and stuff. But I’ve been in a leotard for all of my life! But normally I get to pick out what I want. My all-time favorite has been what I wore on Jay Leno – the purple BCBG Max Azria dress. That was my favorite. I normally get a say in pretty much everything that I want to wear. So I don’t recall something that I was like, I can’t believe I have to wear this!
EG: What are your plans for the holidays?
NL: Well, I’m traveling a lot right now up until Christmas Eve. I get home Christmas Eve. I’m home like one day in between everything. So I guess I’ll just be staying home. The day after Christmas, I’m traveling again but I’ll be back at home for New Year’s. I was born in Russia, and in Russia New Year’s is a huge holiday – it’s bigger than Christmas – so you should really spend it with your family and really close friends. We always have New Year’s at our house and invite our close family and friends over.
Photo-op: Nastia and I pose for the camera
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