Around here, we often refer to Jessica Simpson as dumb, or pathetic, or tragic. And she definitely has those qualities… sometimes. Other times, maybe not. Yesterday, Jessica and her fashion and business savvy made the cover of Women’s Wear Daily, where they referred to her as “Fashion Billion Dollar Baby”. For real. Apparently, Jessica multiple fashion, jewelry and fragrance lines (including clothes, jeans, shoes, watches, etc) are selling like gangbusters – to the point where she’s actually breaking records. Here’s more from PopEater:

With a new fiance, a holiday album and news that she is on her way to becoming a billion-dollar mover and shaker in the fashion world, Jessica Simpson is on top of the world these days. “Things are going great for her right now,” says a source close to the singer. “She’s in a really good place now.”

Indeed, Simpson graced the cover of WWD on Dec. 6, with the headline, “Jessica Simpson: Fashion’s Billion Dollar Baby.”

The Jessica Simpson Collection, it turns out, has become one of the most successful celebrity fashion lines of all time, according to WWD. It will most likely become the first ever to earn more than a billion dollars in retail sales, considering her line brought in a whopping $750 million in retail sales this year alone, WWD reports.

Simpson’s estimated net worth from all the shoes, clothes and accessories she’s selling? A cool $100 million. Not bad for the gal who famously wondered if tuna was chicken on her hit MTV series ‘Newlyweds,’ with ex-hubby Nick Lachey.

“She is the girl next door and has great product that surrounds her,” Vince Camuto, the founder and CEO of Camuto Group, her brand’s master licensee, told WWD. “People like her. People look at her as a style icon.”

A style icon with plenty of high-wattage competition. Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony are launching an apparel and accessories collection, which will be distributed exclusively at Kohl’s this fall. Madonna and her daughter, Lourdes, launched the Material Girl collection at Macy’s earlier this year. Celebrities including Gwen Stefani, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen and Victoria Beckham also have their own lines.

The Camuto Group has licensing partnerships for 22 of Simpson’s product lines, including swimwear, dresses, outerwear, watches and fragrances, and recently licensed The Jones Group Inc. to create and distribute Simpson’s new sportswear line for next fall.

The success of her jeanswear collection, to which The Jones Group also has the license, has gone “beyond our expectations,” Jack Gross, CEO of Jeanswear for The Jones Group, told WWD. Jessica Simpson Sportswear and Jeanswear are expected to generate between $150 million and $200 million in retail sales within the next two years, he says.

[From PopEater]

Wow – I’m really impressed. Jessica may be dumb, and her father may have no idea how to successfully market his daughter as a celebrity, but they know enough to surround themselves with really smart business people. And to give credit where it’s due, I do think Jessica probably insists on quality – if she didn’t, the multiple lines would skim and cheap out, and the lines wouldn’t be as popular. Good for Jessica.

header: courtesy of WENN.