Celebrity "Business" People

[nuharoo]

Am I the only person who is irritated that just because they have a cheap fashion and perfume line that celebrities are all of a sudden called 'Business Moguls.' It irritates me because they equate someone like the Olson Twins or JLO with people like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, or Warren Buffet.

[satellite]

The thing that bugs me about celeb fashion lines- J.Lo's first clothing line and Kimora Lee Simmons's Baby Phat sportswear in particular- is that they sell this overpriced, poorly made (in the case of J.Lo), kinda trashy clothing to the public that they themselves would never dream of wearing. I mean Kimora had what, a room full of Louis Vuitton on Cribs? There's something very "let them eat cake" about it that bugs me, but maybe I'm overhtinking things.
I think Sean Combs actually wears his stuff, so I'll give him a pass.
I haven't seen much of the Olsen twins grown up fashion line so I can't comment.
I guess a celeb name gives a perfume visibility where be more likely to try it in the store, but I'd still have to like it to buy it.
Whenever I'm in Filene's Basement or Marshalls I see that Paris Hilton has like 5 or more diffrent scents out but I never see them advertised anywhere, are they actually selling?

[ivy]

satellite said:

The thing that bugs me about celeb fashion lines- J.Lo's first clothing line and Kimora Lee Simmons's Baby Phat sportswear in particular- is that they sell this overpriced, poorly made (in the case of J.Lo), kinda trashy clothing to the public that they themselves would never dream of wearing. I mean Kimora had what, a room full of Louis Vuitton on Cribs? There's something very "let them eat cake" about it that bugs me, but maybe I'm overhtinking things.

I agree that this is annoying. Once, a few years back, MK and Ashley Olsen showed up to the launch of their new, inexpensive clothing line, and instead of wearing pieces from the line they were wearing designer dresses. Their spokesperson later said it was because they were afraid they would look like walking adverstisements if they wore their own clothes. Bullshit! Their budget line wasn't good enough for them, that's all.

I have to give Gwen Stefani credit for wearing her own clothes. She is one of the few celebs who I believe is genuinely involved in her clothing line and probably designs much of it herself, or at least carefully looks over the designs.

It enrages me when an idiot like Britney Spears is called a marketing genius or a businesswoman just because someone slapped her image on a perfume bottle and it sold well.

Great topic, by the way!

[Deleted]

ivy said:

I agree that this is annoying. Once, a few years back, MK and Ashley Olsen showed up to the launch of their new, inexpensive clothing line, and instead of wearing pieces from the line they were wearing designer dresses. Their spokesperson later said it was because they were afraid they would look like walking adverstisements if they wore their own clothes. Bullshit! Their budget line wasn't good enough for them, that's all.

Yeah, like Karl Lagerfeld or Donatella Versace don't want to be walking advertisements for their designs! The Olsens wouldn't be caught dead using any of the cheap tat they sell to the public.

My mother's a very experienced seamstress and she can spot poor design and construction from a mile off. She thought Sean Combs' stuff was very well put together. I don't think he designs it, but it does have his "vision", if that's the right word. And, except for the gaggy furs, it looks fantastic. Mom thought J-Lo's stuff was hilarious and looked like something you'd run up in a few minutes in home-ec class. The Bay department store had her lingerie line for a while (haven't seen it in ages, though) and it was atrocious. Flimsy, ugly, trashy... there aren't enough words. You know how you don't want to be taken to the hospital in dirty underwear? Well, I would rather be wearing day-old smalls than J-Lo's.

[satellite]

Heh. Macy's used to have a good-sized J.Lo section when she first started "designing", and the t-shirts and jeans were Forever 21/Rainbow/Joyce Leslie/Dots quality but at four times the price. Granted it was geared towards that juniors market, but what a ripoff.

I bought my mom one of the Celine Dion perfumes once, I have to say I liked it.

It seems like Jessica Simpson's shoes are doing well, but whatever happened to her make-up/ perfume line Dessert? I haven't been to Sephora in awhile.

I heard that Sarah Jessica Parker has made $25 million in endorsements and perfume sales since SATC ended. I know she has a cheap chic fashion line too (according to Project Runway), but I haven't been shopping in ages. I like her alot, but it is a bit annoying that she's this fashion maven now, since Patricia Field did the styling for the show.

I saw Milla Jovovich's stuff in Target recently. It looked nice, but nothing I personally would wear- lots of hippie/girly florals and ruffles.

[Maddiemoo]

I can't say much for MK&A's clothing line, but they have an AWESOME cheap make-up line that I really love. It's kinda loud, flashy stuff, but it's fun.

I wear Victoria Beckham's perfume and it's pretty nice. Her clothing is expensive but I think she does actually put a lot of work into it, unlike poor JLo.

[Beeelicious]

Oh, thank you. It bugs the crap out of me. Like they have created these mega-empires of business sense on their own, when they really just have super ambitious and "media savvy" business advisors and managers, and they happen to be "creating" and branding what every sucker wants to own at the time.
I don't buy Jessica Simpson shoes on principle, though there are a few pairs I really lust after. I don't want to add any fuel to the fire. Why is it that singers can't just sing, actors can't just act, they have to have this "triple threat" or "business savvy" kind of buzz. It's the bullshittiest of bullshit, and I wish the general public didn't just fall for it like it does, but damn, lambs to the slaughter.
Hmm, lots of vitriol. Apparently this pisses me off more than I've noticed.

[normadesmond]

Well given the fact they don't actually create their own "music" either, I'm not surprised they don't feel guilty or embarrassed about slapping their name on someone else's clothing design or perfume. And if they foist this crap on people's ears, then why would they be any more respectful to the public's other senses (touch, sight, smell)?

I mean, if J-Lo isn't embarrassed to call herself a singer and musical artist (or take songwriting credits), why would she be ashamed of anything else she slaps her name on? Her so-called music (of which she has about 1 percent creative input - I wonder if she came up with the line ZZZZ-ZZZZZ-ZZZZZZ-ZZZZ or if she needed someone else to write that for her) is shit, so why wouldn't everything else she puts her name on be?

Calling themselves "Business Moguls" is the logical next step after calling themselves "Artists" or "Musicians". One honorific is about as accurate as the other when applied to Britney or J-Lo.

[canuckcutie]

I cringe when I hear the likes of Avril Lavigne is now coming out with a clothing line. I mean come on!! Does anyone actually want to dress like her? A friend of my sister's actually went to high school with Avril and said she was a total preppy gap kid which makes the punk rock schtick all the more annoying. What idiot CEO actually thinks, "oooh lets get Avril to "design" some clothes for our company".

Some celebs are so damn overexposed with the clothing, the perfume, the shoes, the music, the movies etc that I just want to scream when I see their name.

[Deleted]

I hate to say this but I think that the celebrities who market their names like this are smart, unless it leads to overexposure and destroys their brand. Hollywood is a fickle place and most actors, singers, etc. aren't gonna have the careers of Meryl Streep and Paul McCartney.

I just think that they need to be careful what they put their name on -- like JLo's crappy clothes and Paris Hilton's fugly shoes.

People like George Foreman (I love my grill!), Suzanne Sommers (except for the infamous Thighmaster) and Jaclyn Smith have done it right. I think Suzanne really cares about her products too.