Thursday 20 December 2007

2007 - A Year Of Designer Collaborations And Sister Acts

Did you hear? Heidi does jewelery, Eva does lingerie and JLO does everything?
2007 was the year of designer and celebrity collections and all started in 2004...


Before I start with this post I pretend that I refused collaborations right from the beginning.
It all started with Karl Lagefeld for H&M
. First I thaught "Wow, interesting - this is something new and a great opportunity". I immediatelly changed when I saw the agitation in front of the H&M store and I suddenly was out of this. On the same week-end in a club 3 guests were wearing the same T-Shirt with Karl's head print. At that point of time I was sure that it is better to be out of this because now that Karl was open for anyone classiness turned into mass production. "To make design also available for underpriveleged people" was one of the poorest arguments. Being classy dressed is not about money. Maybe money makes it easier but it is not crucial. This was in 2004.




Now we are writing 2007 and there are lots of other designer collaborations with big chains. Pierre Hardy for GAP
, Roberto Cavalli for H&M, Lacroix for La Redoute and Erin Fetherson for Target. These are only a few. Besides the designer collaborations, celebrity collaborations became part of of the history. It is actually unclear if the responding celebrity really desings or just serves as an advertising medium but success is guaranteed. H&M again provides a cutting-edge example with Madonna and Kylie's beachwear line and of course I should not forget to mention the long-announced, curiously-awaited collaboration of Kate for Topshop (though the Holiday Collection has more character). Of course the money machines Kate and Ashley stepped on the wagon with their "whatever for what" collection "The Row" and Sienna the good decided to push her sisters fashion carreer with their clothing line "Twenty2Twelve". Of course there is nothing wrong with all this. No one forces you to spend money on any of these collections.
We live in a world where mainly the rich and famous are able take opportunities. Why do Kate and Ashley need another whatever-clothing line and why is it so easy for them to get the right publicity? Savanna Miller for example, is of course a girl of great talent who studied at St. Martin's...lbut...like many others. Would she be able to greet guests like Anne Hathaway and Rachel Zoe to celebrate the debut of the collective fashion line Twenty8Twelve she launched with style example and sister Sienna? I don't think so. I know that a versus argument would be why not to use relations? Hmm, maybe because you are idealistic. But if you are idealistic how can you change something in a positive way without relations? An endless discussions that's why I stop here.
If you produce something with an unselfish aim it should be fine. Nevertheless it is difficult to judge and rank. I personally prefer to stay apart from designer collaborations and observe how this all turning out.

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