Earlier this year, noted designer and Michelle Obama darling Jason Wu launched his diffusion line, Miss Wu, exclusively at Nordstrom. The contemporary collection embodies the best of Wu's feminine shapes and ladylike charm from his high-end line, but with a more playful, edgy side (and a lower price point).

In our previous post, we chatted up the designer about the insight and execution behind Miss Wu. Check out part two of out one-on-one below, as we delve into Wu's design theory and the inspiration behind this colorful collection. 

Shop Talk: Is there a different sort of pressure designing for the Miss Wu customer? You've said that this is a collection you want you friends to wear, do you feel differently designing for them?
Jason Wu: I don't think there's a pressure. To me it a new opportunity to dress more women, which as a designer is really all you want to do: have as many people in your clothes as possible. I love seeing my clothes in magazines and on celebrities and models, but ultimately I want to see the clothes on everyday people because that's what really means something.

Miss Wu has more separates that the Jason Wu collection, which definitely gives women some room to play. Is there a certain way customers wear your clothes that you're really digging?
It's great because having separates lets a wider variety of clients incorporate the clothes into their wardrobe in different ways. As far as style: I really like this idea of a dressy day/casual evening attitude. I think today women don't necessarily dress so separately for different occasions—there doesn't seem to be a hard divide between day and night anymore. And being super dressed up in the day just feels good.

What inspired Miss Wu?
The whole Miss Wu collection came from my love of the '60s. It's always such a magical era in terms of fashion, such a graphic period. You go from the '50s which was very dressed up, very chic, to the '60s which has much looser shapes and brighter colors. There's just a lot to take away from it.  

Compared to a lot of this fall's color stories, Miss Wu is definitely quite bright and fresh.
I love the idea of the color and the energy. When you go on the floor it's bright and happy; I think they're clothes you want to wear. But we do have some very fall shapes: slouchy shirts and pleated skirts, just with bright pops of color.

Shop the Miss Wu fall collection exclusively at Nordstrom and Nordstrom.com now.