Star Designer: The Phenomenon Analyzed

The title "star turned designer" is always a troubling one. J.Lo, Amanda Bynes, Mandy Moore, the Olsens and many more have decided that acting and/or singing is just not enough. The next step for these fashion plates? To create their own clothes, of course. Why not, I guess? They have a huge head start when it comes to starting a fashion line. They have the name recognition and the funding, not to mention the press, contacts and publicists that are essential to starting a successful business. But do they know more about clothes than just how to wear them?
















Some celebs really do have what it takes. For example, Gwen Stefani's line, L.A.M.B., has done fabulously. Everything in the line has her own unique rasta/punk/SoCal stamp. Each piece is designed beautifully, with attention paid to the smallest detail. She works on the line personally, in conjunction with a professional. And the clothes don't just look like something she would wear, she actually wears them. You can tell she is passionate about fashion, and that she really cares about the final product.













On the other end of the spectrum is Jessica Simpson, who does nothing but put her face and name to a brand. She has gone from beauty products and hair extensions, to shoes and now clothes. While I can't tell you about her beauty line or hair products (sooo not my department,) I can tell you she isn't doing too well in the fashion sphere. Her shoes are not well-made and from what I've heard, pretty painful. Her clothing brand is practically nonexistent. She was sued last year for not wearing or even promoting her product. And you will still probably see her wearing a bathrobe on the cover of some tabloid before you see her wearing any of the clothes from her own brand.























But somewhere in the middle of those two extremes lands Sienna Miller. A fashion icon in her own right, she has recently teamed up with her sister Savannah to create Twenty8Twelve, which is now available online at Neiman Marcus. There are some cute pieces, like the dress her sister wears in the above picture, but nothing groundbreaking. Plus, 99% of Sienna's charm comes from her mix and match-y sensibility: putting on a skirt as a dress, wearing a belt around her bust, tucking her skinny jeans into her sandals. So don't expect to put on a pair of pants from twenty8twelve and suddenly be transformed. It takes a lot of time and effort, in addition to an intuitive sense of style, to look as fabulous as these celebs do everyday. So don't become blinded by the media campaigns surrounding these celeb clothing lines. Buy something because you like it, not because Sienna's sister (or Jessica Simpson's lackey) designed it.

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