When you see so many celebrities penetrating fashion brands – as well as celebrities becoming fashion labels themselves – you wonder, is there anybody left to carry on the tradition of creating real clothes?
Teri Agins, fashion journalist for the Wall Street Journal and author of Hijacking the Runway: How Celebrities Are Stealing the Spotlight from Fashion Designers (Gotham Books, 2014).
Some designers, like Michael Kors, are making themselves into celebrities and many celebrities are pretending to be designers causing chaos and confusion on multiple levels. Still there are a few who refuse to join the madness. Derek Lam for example doesn’t invite celebrities to his shows and doesn’t seek celebrity status himself. For this designer, it’s just about the clothes.
(By the way, Michael Kors’ celebrity is biting back. Overexposure has branded him passé.)
From what I’ve seen, most of the celebrity-wannabe-designers are not particularly great. Their lines do nothing for me (generally). Let the designers design and – celebs – just be mannequins for them. That’s what you’re about.
Nice post. I really like, that you are addressing this major issue. . .
– And I totally agree with Paula in the previous comment.