Kendra Wilkinson has made it known that she loves Hip-Hop. As a star of the popular E! network show The Girls Next Door, a contestant on MTV’s Celebrity Rap Superstar and of course, one of Playboy mogul Hugh Hefner’s girlfriends, Kendra is finding ways to fuse her love for Hip-Hop and fashion as she builds her career.

Playboy has long been known for its lingerie and “cute” logo apparel, however in recent years the brand has expanded into a complete lifestyle for those who like to live like Hef, or look like a Bunny. Kendra has her own flavor, and she’s got an edgy flair when it comes to rocking the Playboy brand in her own unique way.

We talked with the 23-year-old trendsetter about some of her favorite pieces in the Playboy line, her own fashion aspirations and her experience on last year’s Celebrity Rap Superstar.

AllHipHop.com: With so many extensions of the Playboy brand, what is your personal favorite whether it’s the clothing or some facet of the lifestyle brand?

Kendra Wilkinson: My favorite clothing in the Playboy catalog would probably be the workout [line]. I love the workout one, especially the new one. There’s a couple of them that I love, but there’s a picture of me in this little Playboy jumpsuit thing on gossipgirls.com. I just love the fabric that they use, the cut, and the style of the workout clothes for Playboy.

Photo from GossipGirls.com

AllHipHop.com: On [The Girls Next Door] you ladies review the line, whether it be jewelry or clothing. How much input do you get to have with the designs?

Kendra Wilkinson: I get none, but I’m definitely looking into designing my own line. I have my own style and there’s a lot of people that look at my style and want to imitate my style. I have to be picky because I have really small hips and really muscular legs. I’m actually about to start designing my own clothing line, it’s gonna be for juniors and females, it’s gonna be nice denim jeans and vests to go with it, cute stuff.

I’m very picky with my clothes. People look at me like “Oh, she’s just lazy about fashion”, I’m really not. I really have a good sense of what looks good. I can look at pictures like “Oh man, I shouldn’t have worn that” but I’m really good at figuring out what looks good on my body and different body types. So I’m definitely looking forward to coming out with my own line.

AllHipHop.com: So the denim would have a little more room in the leg for girls with muscles?

Kendra Wilkinson: I know Apple Bottoms make room for a**es and everything, but sometimes girls have problems with bigger legs, and not really a butt. So it’s sort of hard, because once the pants are over the legs it kind of squishes the butt. I don’t know, there needs to be some sort of stretchiness to the denim, not a cheap stretch, but a nice cut. I hate all of these jeans that go way too high or too low. I know exactly what looks flattering on a girl and what girls would need. I think by me designing this, it’s gonna be perfect. It’ll be good on every butt and shape, I’m not gonna make them too low cut, I’m gonna make them for everybody.

AllHipHop.com: From watching the show, we know you love Hip-Hop fashion. How do you incorporate the Playboy style into your Hip-Hop attire?

Kendra Wilkinson: I just have my own style and my own way of walking and talking. It’s not even what I do for my outfit, it’s just the fact that who I am is what makes my outfit. The way I walk, talk and my body movements is what makes it more Hip-Hop looking. I can wear anything, I love to dress it up looking more Hip-Hop than cute, because that’s my style and what I grew up with.

I love the Hip-Hop style more than I like any sort of girly cute stuff. Any kind of wifebeater I love matching that with [Nike] Cortez shoes, I wear my Air Forces with them, hoodies, I love to mix and match. Say I have a really nice Playboy wifebeater on, I love to throw a hoodie over it. I like to throw my own style in it with the jewelry and a hat to the side. It’s not even really what I wear, it’s how I wear it more.

AllHipHop.com: You mentioned your jewelry. Have you particularly made any special pieces and have any of those custom pieces made it to the line exclusively?

Kendra Wilkinson: No I haven’t really made any jewelry, that’s not my department. I’ll wear it but that’s not really my thing. I’m an athlete so I try not to wear too much jewelry, I’m always out there playing sports and I work out everyday. There’s a really good picture of me with a gold necklace with a pimp cup on it and a Playboy bunny on it. Now who do you think they had in mind when they made that? [laughs]

AllHipHop.com: You mentioned that you work out every day. How much more physically active have you had to become over the last couple of years [to keep your shape]?

Kendra Wilkinson: It’s been on and off, when I first got here I blew up a little bit. I’m not saying I was fat, but I blew up. We get pictures every week and I started to notice I was blowing up. That’s when I got on my workout routine and invited my trainer to come work out with me, then when I got tired of working with my trainer then I slacked off and started doing my own thing. I stayed in shape, didn’t really go overboard with my eating and started working out without my trainer.

I do a good job by myself, but lately I just hired the best trainer in L.A. Jesse Bruno, he’s been working the crap out of me and people have already noticed a huge difference. I’m working my way into the fitness magazines and the fitness spotlights.

AllHipHop.com: What are the hot trends in Playboy’s bikini wear right now?

Kendra Wilkinson: The metallic bathing suits are the best. I like to stay with the simple bikinis, that’s what girls need. They don’t need any fashionable looking ones because it looks disgusting after taking the bathing suit off and having all of those stupid tan lines. It looks ugly, it’s not impressing guys and it’s covering up way too much. All the strings and all that stuff need to go away, keep it simple, light, normal and make sure that they look good on your butt. The butt is the best part about the whole bathing suit.

AllHipHop.com: You’ve been on TV for a few years under the reality TV spotlight, and you’ve made a few cameos here and there. Do you see yourself actually getting into true acting gigs, and do you see yourself getting into acting at any time?

Kendra Wilkinson: Yeah, why not? I’m, a very adventurous person, I never knew that I was gonna be here today. This was never a dream of mine, I’m the type of person that never dreams the impossible. At the time I never dreamt it because it’s like why dream it if it’s never going to happen? I kind of just took it day by day working my a** off for the moment and the day and time. I never knew this Hollywood stuff existed, something I did in my life was right and it picked me up and brought me here today.

I’m a strong person, and very smart when it comes to decision making. I’m not the type of person that will just say yes to anything. I’m a very adventurous person and I wanna have fun in this industry. It depends on what  kind of role and everything, but I would love to act. I’m not saying my goal and dream is to be an actress, but I would love to do it, it would be fun for me and I think I would be good at it because I was on TV and I think the first step to being good at acting is getting used to the cameras and being comfortable. Let me tell you, I’m very used to the cameras. [laughs]

AllHipHop.com: With Celebrity Rap Superstar, it was something you looked like you had a lot of fun doing. What was the biggest lesson you learned through the show, and what was the most fun about it overall?

Kendra Wilkinson: Celebrity Rap Superstar was probably the highlight of my life. I love Hip-Hop, I’ve grown up on Hip-Hop, I like the real Hip-Hop instead of some of the stuff that’s out today. I love Hip-Hop and to me it’s art. Nas says Hip-Hop’s dead and I agree with him, and that’s why I’ve been staying away right now. I’m staying 100% away from [today’s] Hip-Hop right now. Of course I’m still listening to Jay-Z, but with all of this new stuff as long as I’m in the club I’ll bounce to it and everything but when they put on Gang Starr, A Tribe Called Quest, Wu-Tang, that’s when you’ll see me really shake my a**. 

I love Hip-Hop and being on Celebrity Rap Superstar with MC Lyte, Redman, Too Short, Kurupt, Tone Loc, Warren G, those are people I grew up listening to. It’s crazy because I didn’t believe all of those people were gonna be on there, I thought it was gonna be someone like Soulja Boy and I was like “Oh God, what am I getting myself into?” Then I found out the people that were gonna be in it and I was like, “I’m not doing it unless I have Too Short,” because he’s like my guy I really grew up listening to. Even though it’s pretty bad stuff [with the nasty lyrics], he’s the artist I grew up bobbing my head to in the car everyday of my life going to high school and coming back from high school. He’s the number one guy I remember as an artist. As soon as I heard he was going to be in it, I was like, “Oh my God, I have to work with him.”

It was a hard decision because there were so many people to work with. MC Lyte is the classiest, hottest woman in this world, she’s above any woman I’ve ever seen in my entire life. She’s a true talent and she definitely gave Hip-Hop a great name, working with all of them was a dream come true. Everyday I woke up so excited to get right back on the stage with all of them like, “Oh my God, pinch me right now. Am I living a dream? I’m gonna record a song with f**king Too Short and be on stage with all of these legendary artists.” I couldn’t believe my eyes, and couldn’t believe where I was. It was a dream come true to me.

AllHipHop.com: You mentioned Soulja Boy. Have you been following this Soulja Boy vs. Ice T “beef” at all?

Kendra Wilkinson: Ice-T is 100 percent wrong. Even though I don’t agree that Soulja Boy is Hip-Hop. He should never say that because who’s the one that’s going in the stores and going on the internet, buying music and motivating these artists to keep going with their music? It’s us, the listeners turning on the radio and listening to this crap. Good for Soulja Boy, good for him, I say go Soulja Boy. He’s making money and doing what he needs to do to survive in this world, and it’s us the listeners who are listening to this crap. Everybody needs to make a living, so good for him. He probably didn’t even know that this was gonna go far.

AllHipHop.com: How do you feel about the outcome of the NBA Finals?

Kendra Wilkinson: I think Boston was the toughest team throughout the whole season, period. As soon as they picked up Kevin Garnett I was like, “They’re gonna go, there’s no stopping that team.” It was amazing that the Lakers wet this far, how they pulled it off and everybody was excited, but at the end of the day the Celtics were the toughest team, it was obvious and no one could stop them.

The Lakers put up their best shot and I give them props for making it so far, but the Celtics deserved it. They worked together as a brotherly team. The Lakers love each other, but you can tell Boston has that chemistry, and the friendship and brotherhood. Everybody knew from the start that they were gonna be the ones to win it.

AllHipHop.com: For football, are you happy with the choices that the Chargers and the Eagles made in the draft?

Kendra Wilkinson: Yeah, I’m very excited with what the Chargers did, I’m really good friends with John Spanos and his family, and I’m really excited that they made good decisions adding to their defense.  We’re good on our defense, but we just need some good coverage. We’ve got a couple of good guards in the draft, I think it’s just gonna add youth and quickness to our team and maybe get some of the holes out there filled up.

AllHipHop.com: Is there anything else that you want us to know about what you’ve got coming up?

Kendra Wilkinson: The [clothing] line is working out, I have a great factory and design team and I think the stuff that I’m gonna come up with is really good, but I don’t wanna promote it just yet.  Also we have a whole new 20 episodes of The Girls Next Door coming up, even though I’m not on it as much as the last couple of seasons.

Check out some more Playboy fashions at www.shopthebunny.com, and see what Kendra is up to at www.myspace.com/kendrawilkinson