Lately, though, a slightly different celebrity-turned-designer concept really has me riled: established fashion houses handing design duties over to the rich and famous. It all started with Lindsay Lohan at Emanuel Ungaro. And the epidemic has spread to Longchamp, where Kate Moss will design handbags, and Halston, where Sarah Jessica Parker will be head designer of the houses's secondary line featuring archival looks.
And just two days ago, Madewell, a J. Crew offshoot, announced that tv personality Alexa Chung will design a line for the label. Though Madewell's heritage isn't exactly comparable to the legacies of Halston or Longchamp, passing over an industry professional in favor of a celebrity seems equally ridiculous in this instance.
I suppose if your only intention is gaining press coverage, it's a shrewd move. But I would like to know how snazzy wardrobe choices alone qualify someone to be a designer. (I can read music and I have a good singing voice. But that doesn't mean I'm qualified to be a music producer.)
It's one thing for a celebrity to start their own label; if they want to find financial backers and put their name on the line (figuratively speaking), that's their prerogative. But it's really irksome −to me, anyway− when labels could help our ailing economy (Ten percent unemployment, anyone?) by putting recent design grads and/or experienced designers on their payrolls.
Doing so also would validate the value of design training, whether it be formal or informal. Making $15,000 couture gowns from scratch isn't a skill one gains overnight. Immense discipline and an inimitable vision are crucial to achieving industry success.
Or are they? Only time will tell.
So what's your take on celebrities getting into the fashion biz?
1 comments:
I feel I should mention that Tom Ford (formerly of Gucci and YSL, currently has an eponymous label) is a prime example of a successful designer without a degree in fashion (it's in architecture, though he also took fashion courses during his tenure at The New School ) or the ability to construct clothes himself. But when he landed at Gucci, which he revolutionized, he had an incredibly sharp aesthetic plus industry experience (two years at Perry Ellis). He was not merely a well-dressed man looking to start a secondary career.
Post a Comment