Hello-Hello, and welcome to another wacky day at the Prepatorium!
Our focus today is Fashion Week.
Courtesy photo via WWD
Front and center at the Calvin Klein show yesterday, one of the Gossip Girl guys, Chace Crawford. To the right of Mr. Crawford we see actors Ryan Phillippe and Kellan Lutz.
Another G2 star, Jessica Szohr was spotted in the front row at the Hervé Léger presentation; actress Melissa George is also seen in the picture.
Astrid Stawiarz/Getty
All of which brings us to the issue of fashion’s front row and the “M Word”, aka Money. Many years (many, many) years back we learned stars didn’t just appear at runway shows because they liked the designer and were able to acquire an invitation. Nay, nay fellow inhabitants of Planet Prep; the celebrities are paid to be there.
Cathy Horyn, fashion writer extraordinaire, has an outstanding column on the topic in Saturday’s Times.
“… once the exclusive domain of influential editors, retailers, socialites and celebrity friends of the designer. That fortress was breached long ago, about the time Paris Hilton and her Chihuahua showed up.”
Natch, we appreciated the reference to one of our original Anti-Preps, Ms. Hilton. Rebecca Taylor’s front row included actresses Sophia Bush and Carmen Electra.
Brian Ach/Getty
Ms. Horyn’s article sheds light on other costs incurred by brands looking for what The Consort calls “warm props”:
“… the deals, trades and exclusive contracts — first-class airfare, hotel rooms for friends, per diems, designer boutique shopping sprees — that miraculously clear a path to the front row for a busy actress.”
Style site Fashionista ran a fascinating piece earlier this month, “How Much Brands Pay For Celebs to Sit in Their Front Rows“. Writer Lauren Sherman set out to determine what we’ll call ‘guesstimated rates’ for celebrities to appear at a show. Here are a few names from the Fashionista “A list”:
- Rihanna ($100,000 or more)
- Beyonce ($80,000-$100,000)
- Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen ($80,000 each)
Several Gossip Girl stars are on the “B List”:
- Blake Lively ($50,000)
- Leighton Meester ($40,000)
- Hillary Duff ($40,000)
- Other Gossip Girl cast members ($25,000 a piece)
For some reason we are guessing Mr. Crawford draws more than the $25,000 number cited above for appearances by ‘other cast members’.
Andrew H. Walker/Getty
The actor is seen with musician Lee Pace and actor Jared Leto in the photo above. To see the rest of Fashionista’s list, including where Paris Hilton ranks, click here. The story mentions that Marc Jacobs and Carolina Herrera have “virtually banned celebrities from their front rows,” an interesting turn of events.
Ms. Horyn’s story in the Times also discusses rates, quoting a publicist in the business, Roger Padilha:
“… “If you see an A-list star at a show, that’s because she’s making $100,000 on the deal.”
And talked about this year’s most wanted stars:
“Last season, Ms. Lively, a Gossip Girl, was considered a good get. This week, according to Mr. Padilha, “Sandra Bullock is the get. Even more so than Anne Hathaway.”
Back in the olden daze these were the only kind of people designers wanted to see at their shows:
Bryan Bedder/Getty
That is Grace Coddington (L) and Anna Wintour from Vogue magazine at this morning’s Zac Posen show.
We continue with another quick Gossip Girl mention; we can’t resist sharing two looks from the Peter Som show, as it was dubbed “Bohemian for the Blair Waldorf set” by Women’s Wear Daily.
That seems an appropriate description.
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We now move on to the Lacoste show.
Reviews for the fall/winter styles were mixed. The Journal’s Heard on the Runway blog was favorable:
“All of the looks were infinitely wearable, suggesting that what Lacoste lacks in high fashion, it makes up for in saleability.”
That ‘saleability’ factor is not always seen as a positive to fashion editors; from the NY Times’ brief review:
“… as the show evolved into hot, strong color, Lacoste seemed to be trying too hard to be a “fashion” brand.
WWD was not complimentary in their review.
“In a rather lackluster show missing Lacoste’s usual verve and focus, there was layering, bright color blocking and sometimes an easy slouchy mood.”
Heard on the Runway’s writeup also explained the look seen on the female models:
“A highlight of the collection was the knit leggings that widened at the bottom to cover the high heels…. dubbed “longjohn [sic] leggings” and called them “his answer to sweatpants.”
“The look gave off something of a pants-cum-legwarmer appearance… a fresh take on what is becoming a staid trend….”
More from WWD:
“Still, designer Christophe Lemaire reminded his audience of the panache of seasons past with some chic little sweater dresses and terrific outerwear in double-faced wool or handknitted alpaca.”
Women’s Wear Daily also went backstage at Lacoste to look at what the trade paper called “smoldering eyes”.
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With the insanely high-heeled shoes continuing to dominate shows it is no surprise to see more models struggling to stay vertical. Below, Agyness Deyn took a tumble at the Haiti Relief benefit show.
Frazer Harrison/FFR/Getty
Actually the supermodel fell twice at the show.
The young woman handled the falls with aplomb.
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We close with a look at some of the designs from the Liberty of London and Target collaboration.
Courtesy photo via Oprah.com
Targét elected to release a few styles exclusively via the Oprah website, an interesting decision on the retailer’s part. The infant’s dress will retail at $13, the Misses dress at $35.
Courtesy photo via Oprah.com
The hat is going to be priced at $13.
Courtesy photo via Oprah.com
The collection launches March 15.
Until next time, may all of your runways be trouble-free!
PHOTO CREDITS:
- Peter Som/WWD:
- Robert Mitra/WWD: Lacoste Runway
- Couturture: Lacoste Runway
- Kyle Ericksen/WWD:
The Preppy Princess 