Why Fashion Designer Rebecca Minkoff Joined RHONY

The Real Housewives of New York City Season 15 introduced "friend" of the cast, fashion designer and scientologist Rebecca Minkoff. Known by Brynn Whitfield as the designer whose bags are sold at Nordstrom Rack, Rebecca's first-ever season with the women started off slow. Her pregnancy prank rubbed fans the wrong way, but she finally got some love after standing up for herself during a group trip to Puerto Rico.

Rebecca has expressed wanting to join RHONY for several reasons and one of those reasons was having people see the face and personality behind the famous brand. However, she's also admitted to using her TV time to get a boost in her business.

Why Fashion Designer Rebecca Minkoff Joined RHONY

Before the premiere of Season 15 of The Real Housewives of New York City, Bravo announced that fashion designer Rebecca Minkoff was going to join the cast as a "friend" of the housewives. She came in as a friend of cast member Erin Lichy, who described her as "a major fashion designer. She’s awesome. She's such a sweetheart."

When Ubah Hassan meets Rebecca for the first time over coffee, she states, "I know your name like I know Coca-Cola."

Anyone who is a fashion buff will know that the Rebecca Minkoff brand has been around for years. She founded her company in 2005, when she designed her first handbag, which was called the "Morning After Bag" and worn by several celebrities. From there, her career took off, and the brand now offers clothing, accessories, shoes, handbags, and jewelry.

Speaking to Style Caster in October, Rebecca revealed that she joined the cast of RHONY, so fans of her brand can see her true self.

"I looked at how [the brand] has been in touch with our customer from the beginning—I realized these people have grown up with me. So I thought, if I can show [them] another dimension of myself as an entertainer, a prankster, a girl’s girl—that just establishes more closeness to my customer."

She added, "I was very conscious, going in, that [who] I am on the show [is] who I am in life." The designer also detailed that fans would get to see her as the "peacemaker" among the group of women who is not "gossiping about the girls behind their backs," only if she's "edited correctly."

Rebecca's Husband Doesn't Want Her To Be A Main Cast Member On RHONY

When Rebecca sat down with Real Housewives' Tamra Judge and Teddi Mellencamp on their Two Ts In A Pod podcast, she admitted that she was unsure about returning to RHONY as a main cast member. Her hesitation to be more than a friend of the cast had a lot to do with her husband, Gavin Bellour, who was already "on the fence" about it because of their kids.

"I guess TBD. My husband is a little bit on the fence about that. Which is why I wasn’t a full time [RHONY star] to begin with. We do have young kids. So I think he and I have just been weighing if there is a round two, what does it look like?" She told the hosts.

Rebecca and her husband share four children ranging in age from 13 years old to 2 years old. Despite Gavin being unsure about filming their children, he was on board to film himself, but decided not to after an accident put him in a wheelchair while filming.

When asked if she had any regrets filming her first season of RHONY, Rebecca said:

"I would have been more vocal at times. And stated opinions more strongly, in the moment.

She added, "Again, I want to support women, I want to see them do well, so unless I have real beef with someone, I wasn’t just going to throw shade just to throw shade."

The Designer Admitted She Appeared On The Show To Boost Her Business

While attending the Inc. 5000 conference in October, Rebecca admitted that she joined RHONY to promote her business. While fans were livid at the comment, Rebecca put it this way: "Some fans’ reactions were like, ‘Ah, how dare she do this for business?’ I’m like, why would anyone come on this show? For the betterment of society?'"

According to Inc. Rebecca's appearance as a friend of the cast did boost her brand. And, it's not necessarily a bad thing because several housewives have used their reality TV appearances to promote their brands. Just look at the women on RHOSLC, including Meredith Marks, Whitney Rose, and Lisa Barlow. Remember when OG RHONY Bethenny Frankel found tremendous success by using the show to build her beverage empire, Skinnygirl Cocktails?

“Everyone on here is doing it for business! And then you’re a liar if you’re not admitting that. So I just came out and said it. I said, ‘It’s good for business, it’s good for brand building.'"

Rebecca's brand's website saw a traffic increase of 40 percent since she made her RHONY debut. According to Inc. Rebecca wore her own fashion pieces on set and when she gifted her cast members bags from her line, she made sure they were also available for people to purchase. "My bag was on the table in every scene, because you are going to like that bag and buy it, dammit!" Rebecca admitted.