Simone Biles has more than enough exciting things happening to flip out over these days.
The 25-year-old Olympian launched her own collection with Athleta for young girls April 19, which comes right in the midst of planning her upcoming wedding to fiancé Jonathan Owens. So it's a good thing she's fairly adept at balancing.
A longtime Athleta fan, she decided to partner with the athleisurewear company "because it's a brand by women for women," the 19-time gold medalist explained in an exclusive interview with E! News. "But once we partnered and we had the same visions that aligned, we also decided we could come out with a collection, which was one of my biggest dreams ever."
And then there's that other fantasy, with the decorated athlete describing putting together her nuptials with Owens as "super exciting." She walked E! through her whole routine from designing her new line to choosing her wedding dress.
E! News: How fun has it been designing this activewear collection?
Simone Biles: Obviously, I wear a lot of athletic clothes, so I was like, "This is perfect." But we also really wanted to target young girls just to inspire them so that's why you'll see we've embedded some love notes in the collection, which are mantras that I've used throughout my career that kind of keep me going and keep me up on my feet and make me feel empowered and excited to work.
E!: What was the design process like?
SB: Now we're like in spring, so we obviously played off of that. One of my favorite colors is a dandelion yellow, so you'll see that throughout the collection. And you'll also see some pastels, which are really pretty, and a lot of the articles of clothing are very cohesive, so you could wear them and mix and match. One of my other favorite ones looks like brushstrokes and that's fun for the kids. So, we have a lot embedded throughout the whole collection.
E!: What are some of your mantras?
SB: One of them is, "The floor is yours," another is, "Because I Can," and the last one is, "No dream is too small or too big." So, hopefully it'll inspire girls if they're ever having a down day, they can look down and it's that little Simone on their shoulder and just a reminder for them to keep going.
E!: How do you feel about the mental health conversation that was sparked by your experience at the Tokyo Olympics?
SB: I think it opened the floor to a bigger conversation that needed to be had. So, there was a lot of power in that, but that's not why I did it. I was just voicing what was happening to me and then knowing that it's happening to other athletes really resonated with me—and I was happy that I was able to speak to them in more ways than one. Hopefully with this collection, it'll inspire the younger generation that they can do anything they put their minds to.
E!: What is the main message you hope young athletes take away?
SB: It's okay to not be okay. Everybody's healing path is different and especially since we're still going through a pandemic, I know a lot of things aren't normal. So hopefully with this collection, it just brightens their day, makes them feel confident, comfortable, and happy.
E!: Speaking of happy…where are you at in the wedding plans?
SB: Obviously, our moms are both helping us, which is super exciting. The biggest thing is trying to lock down a date and solidifying the guest list. So, that's where we're at right now, but we definitely know that it'll be sometime next year during his off-season.
E!: Any celeb guests going to make the cut?
SB: We have some of my teammates that I'd be inviting. But other than that, it's really close family, friends and people that have watched us grow throughout our relationship and will share that love on that day.
E!: You recently shared on Instagram that you picked out a gown. We don't want to spoil it for Jonathan—But what was that experience like?
SB: I had my best friend and my mom there and then once we found the dress, we did FaceTime Jonathan's mom so that she could see it. But it was just a very, close tight knit group. I didn't show all my friends because we still wanted it to be special for everybody. It was something I didn't think I would go with, which was so crazy because I came in with a list of my likes, what I want it to look like and then I kind of did the complete opposite of that. But it was a fun experience. I really enjoyed it.
E!: Do you have any honeymoon ideas?
SB: We're just focusing on the wedding and trying to get through that first. But obviously we know where we want to do it, we just don't know timing because his season is a pretty long one. [We'll] probably wait some time.
E!: But first your new collection! What are you most excited about?
SB: I'm excited to see the kids in this collection and they can tag me on my social media. I hope the kids love it, I hope the parents love it and it was just a really exciting collab that we have—but also more than a collab, we have a partnership.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.