L.A. Fashion Week: Celebrity by design
Just as L.A. Fashion Week took a step forward, the celeb-as-designer trend seems to have sent it two steps back.
Though the presence of bigger and more legitimate designers has grown over the past few years, fashion regulars Sue Wong, Kevan Hall and Ed Hardy are not showing Fall 2008 collections at Culver City’s Smashbox photo studios next week.
So as Fashion Week gets under way Sunday, the spotlight turns to the likes of “The Hills” star Lauren Conrad, Nicky Hilton and the Pussycat Dolls.
Yes, the Pussycat Dolls.
Hey, it’s just Hollywood, right?
Wong, for one, calls the emerging trend “absolutely bogus.”
But Smashbox co-founder Davis Factor says the week “is for everybody,” from established designers to show biz types. Even the burlesque-inspired singing girl group.
“Sure, every celebrity and his brother wants to be a fashion designer,” said Wong, who has been designing since 1968. “It’s not like anybody can pick it up and do it. It’s a science. You need to know fit and construction.”
Wong, a dependable draw for the past six years at Mercedes-Benz L.A. Fashion Week, said she plans to show there again next season.
This season, however, she will stick to an ornate ’20s and ’30s inspired collection at her restored historic mansion The Cedars “to do something different,” she said.
“I don’t believe in reality TV stars turning into designers or a music mogul or a flash-in-the-pan turning into a designer,” Wong said, acknowledging lines by Sean “Diddy” Combs and Jennifer Lopez. “It’s all about merchandizing and them trying to capitalize on their 15 minutes of fame. I don’t think those kind of houses can be taken seriously. What can be taken seriously is a real, bona fide talent.”
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