I've been meaning to write this post for some time now but have held back until now. There is an abundance of negativity and snarky commentary throughout the blogosphere and I really didn't want to contribute to this trend. This said, the past few weeks have highlighted the difficult times currently afoot in the fashion and retail industries and the recent news that talented London-based designer Allegra Hicks has fallen into administration has made me re-think my reserve. Sadly, I'm afraid this is only the beginning. As we struggle to dig ourselves out of this economic quagmire, we may be seeing more failures of promising fashion brands to come. Many more. This brings me to the topic of celebrities who moonlight as "designers".
As a hard-core follower of fashion, I have a great deal of respect for the craft and expertise displayed by a talented, well-trained designer. Perhaps this is why I find it so deeply insulting that someone who can neither sketch, sew, drape nor cut a pattern suddenly improvise themselves a "designer". I also find it deeply cynical on the part of fashion and luxury labels who enable these projects and the fashion magazines who push them on their readers. Still, during the good times, I was content to ignore the celebrity vanity projects and sought refuge in labels who offered me quality and integrity: Azzedine Alaia, Roland Mouret, Lanvin, Pierre Hardy and Christian Louboutin come to mind. But now, as many young and even well-established designers face unemployment and/or liquidation, I find these celebrity lines smack of nothing so much as blind, uninhibited greed. If these celebrities really, truly love fashion as they profess to, they will go back to what they do best (act in movies and television series, perform and record music, give soft-ball promotional interviews and attend red carpet events where they preen and pose for the cameras) and leave the designing to the designers.
Sincerely,
The Luxe Chronicles
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