Designers Unhappy with Celebrity Brands

So, various celebrity monikers have pervaded the world of fashion. The most obvious is in the fragrance industry, which saw a sharp increase in celebrity-brand scents over the past decade. However, celebrity brands or associations are prominent in clothing and accessories, as well. In fact, socialite and former friend of Paris Hilton Nicole Richie has plans to add a line of handbags to her existing fashion house, House of Harlow 1960. While Richie is a minor modern-day style icon, her latest foray into fashion isn’t unusual. Madonna, Kate Moss, Lindsay Lohan, and Lily Allen have all done the same over the past year.

But, although these celebrity-designed lines are profitable in the short term, how beneficial are they to the fashion industry overall? Various design houses are now going after these celebrity brands. According to the linked article, Dolce and Gabbana, Gucci, and Viktor & Rolf have openly disproved of collections designed by Moss, Madonna, and Lohan.

Perhaps, Dolce and Gabbana forgets their recent collaboration with Madonna for the sunglasses line, MDG, but Moss and Lohan? In the world of celebrity-designed fashion, Lohan is already infamous for her designs for Ungaro that resembled a hybrid between trashy, neon-colored club wear and stripper attire. In fact, her brief time working for Ungaro is said to have sunk the fashion house even further.

These designers, however, have a second side to their campaign in bringing designer fashion back to the designers. Aside from speaking openly against celebrity brands, their upcoming ad campaigns will be depicting the craftsmanship that goes into creating clothing. Aside from the advertisement aspect, another feature in this campaign is in-store demonstrations that will display how a piece of clothing or a handbag is put together. Designing clothing and handbags is seen as an art, and it appears that these designers want to have their fashion lines viewed in that light.