“To be honest, most people do this dress, but I think ours is the best,” chuckles the 5’8″ Alexa Chung in a recent Refinery29 blog video. While 5’8″ may seem fun-sized for the catwalk, the jill-of-all-trades has added another role to her TV presenter/model repertoire: designer. Last week, Chung premiered her second line for the J.Crew-owned Madewell clothing company. With tartan wraps that echo the designer’s British roots, long-sleeved lacy dresses (to which she’s referring above), slouchy boyfriend sweaters, and a “self-portrait” sketch tee, the former MTV presenter hit a high note with her latest Madewell collaboration, so much so that the company’s website temporarily crashed from the number of online shoppers.
While Alexa Chung’s partnership with Madewell has proven popular with the masses and demonstrated the young Brit’s talent for design, it highlights the inadequacy of many tried (and failed) clothing and accessory lines that celebrities launch, believing that their names alone will sell clothing.
Sienna Miller, here’s to you for your Twenty8Twelve work (granted, you may have had sister Savannah’s help). And Mary-Kate, for someone who epitomizes “dumpster-chic,” you and Ashley got it right with Elizabeth and James. It’s the attempts made by “not-quite-sure-why-you’re-famous” reality stars and teeny-boppers that just don’t hit the mark. I’m looking at you, Miley Cyrus and Kardashian sisters.
It should be noted that Miley Cyrus, who teamed up for Walmart with renowned fashion designer Max Azria, made a noble attempt to deliver affordable fashion to a younger audience. While a few of the collection’s pieces weren’t bad, most of the graphic tees and cheetah-print leggings belonged in the youth aisle. But when she graced the cover of Elle Magazine’s August 2009 cover, Cyrus was quoted saying, “I would pay $500 for the jeans that we make for $20. I’m really into high fashion.” Yes, it is clear you consider the value of style in your willingness to pay serious cash for a pair of inexpensive jeans, but Miley, you’re probably the only one. There is a way to make fashion affordable, and unfortunately, “Miley Cyrus and Max Azria for Walmart” was not it.
To say that I don’t occasionally bask in the mindlessness that is Keeping Up with the Kardashians would be unfair. The girls, mother Kris, former Olympian Bruce Jenner, and a handful of half-siblings do make for an entertaining bunch. While I’m not quite sure what the Kardashian sisters actually do, they have checked “designing a clothing line” off their list twice in the past year. With closets that most fashion enthusiasts could only dream of and years of retail experience in the clothing store DASH, you’d expect Kim, Kourtney, Khloe, and Kris to produce a chic and innovative collection. While last year’s K-Dash for QVC.com revealed a glimpse of a creative eye in the girls (think embellished shoulder pads and classic, double-breasted blazers), their latest line for Sears, Kardashian Kollection, offers little more than attire appropriate only for Tao nightclub in Las Vegas – and I don’t mean that in a good way.
It’s curious how celebrities assume that just because someone can dress them, they too have the keen eye to dress others. At the end of the day, having a unique sense of style and the confidence to wear it is worth more than having a movie star’s name associated with it. The ability to know your audience and cater to the individual styles within it that Alexa Chung and the Olsen twins possess is not easily acquired. For the rest of you – stick to your day jobs, whatever they may be.
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