The sincerest form of flattery
No more fashion by Snoop: Is this the end of the celeb clothing world as HeidiMontag knows it?
It used to be that when you wanted to dress like Whitney Port, Rachel Bilson, Elle MacPherson, or Miley Cyrus, you scoured magazines for the designers they favored (or maybe for the brands they represented) and made your way to the mall, allowance in hand.
But sometime around 2000, celebrities decided they were tired of just being the (insanely well-paid) middlemen, and wanted in on the action.
Want to look like Mary-Kate or Ashley Olsen? They've got a line — Elizabeth & James — available at Neiman's and Saks.
Gwen Stefani's L.A.M.B. was so successful with the fashionista set that she's released a second, more youth-oriented line: Harajuku Girls.
Jessica Simpson has shoes. Nicole Richie designs maternity. And Lindsay Lohan's much-lampooned high-end leggings line 6126 is actually selling quite well.
It seems like recently anyone with a record deal, a reality show or a even a famous ass was inking a clothing deal.
But with the recession forcing even A-list designers out of business, has the tide turned on the celeb fashion line?
Snoop Dogg is closing his line of two years, Rich & Infamous, after months of speculation and his comments that the brand was lowering prices to deal with the recession.
Jennifer Lopez has started and folded no less than three lines: J.Lo, JustSweet and Sweetface. Sarah Jessica Parker's dirt-cheap Bitten line fell victim to the end of Steve & Barry's stores, where it was sold exclusively.
Other casualties of the celeb-line backlash include Jojovitch-Hawk from Milla Jovovitch and Carmen Hawk, Benjamin Bixby by Outkast's Andre 3000, Mandy Moore's Mblem, and Eve's line, Fetish, which along with Jay-Z's Rocawear is part of the bankrupt wholesale apparel group owned by Househusband of New Jersey Chris Laurita.
Heidi Montag, Jaime Pressly, Lauren Conrad, LL Cool J, Young Buck, Kanye West — all failed designers. With a weak marketplace, is it worth it for celebs to risk their cache on a line that could be a bust?
According to the market, yes — this season is also the debut of Madonna's junior clothing line, Material Girl; Isabella Rosselini designing a collection for Bulgari and Mischa Barton launching a line of headbands.
Is there any area of fashion to small for the celebrity treatment? Apparently not.