Lindsay Lohan Makes Major Fashion Failure

Amidst all the gossip and gushing about great new designs and exciting collections, there's a fair amount of scandal to be found at a given Paris Fashion Week event, as most devotees of the traditional show are well aware. This year, the award for the most talked about, and perhaps most vehemently criticized (as in, ever, period) aspect of the show undeniably goes to Lindsay Lohan's fashion flop at luxury design house Ungaro. Red flags went up across the industry nearly a month before the event when the news of Lohan's involvement with the traditionally high-fashion firm was released. Critics wondered what the design company must have been thinking, while others suggested that the move was an affront to the professionals who spent their careers involved in serious design work. The offense? Ungaro hired Lohan to consult on the new collection as an assistant to its newly-commissioned head designer, Estrella Archs.



There are a number of theories as to why Ungaro may have made its controversial move, but a number of gossipers have noted that asking a celebrity to endorse a brand is fairly common in the fashion world. Of course, design houses usually restrict the arrangement to the realm of putting on a pretty face; celebrities might feature prominently in advertisement campaigns, or might make a testimonial or branding contribution through a signature or the lending of their name. But ask a celebrity -–especially one as hotly contested as Lindsay Lohan-- to actually do the design work, and mouths are likely to drop open.
That's precisely what happened at the showing of the latest Ungaro collection at Paris Fashion Week, but the astonishment was clearly not leaning towards the positive. Critics had a veritable field day with the bright and “gaudy” designs on parade, describing the collection as lacking invention and breaking the rules of form and color -–but in a decidedly bad way. While some industry rags attempted to maintain a sense of sympathy for Lohan, the mood online and in print since the event has been distinctly vicious, something that has spawned the occasional commentator to suggest that the failed campaign may signal a change in direction for fashion houses that have been taking advantage of celebrity involvement.
It may be the case that Ungaro was simply looking to safeguard its name and assets during an especially turbulent economy, but if this is true, it would appear that the design studio, which has typically catered to high-end fashionistas and those with a deep purse and an even deeper appetite for couture, has effectively caused its own worst nightmare. While glowing reviews about other shows at Paris Fashion Week highlight the insight and talents of Ungaro's friends and competitors, the label itself is likely to hear nothing but incredulity for the time being. Frankly, we're just glad that Lohan kept her designing “prowess” out of the field of costume jewellery -–there aren't any flops or faux pas here.

Lindsay Lohan and the Case of the Missing Jewels

Lindsay Lohan receives a fair share of media atention, following everything from her lukewarm careers in acting and music production to her more successful endeavors as a focus for gossip rags and incredulous onlookers wondering what Hollywood has gotten itself into. There have ben plenty of scandals surrounding the young starlet's social and personal lives, from bouts with overdrinking to questionable slips of etiquette and public dress. Recently, Lohan has cropped up in media snippets for an unlikely event that happened during a photo shoot with which she was involved for Elle UK, a women's magazine planning to feature a piece about the celebrity.
It's hardly a secret that valuable jewellery is loaned to stars for special appearances, but the stunning price tag on the pieces Lohan wore to the shoot --over $400,000-- seems incredible by any standards. Apparently, it was too incredible an opportunity to pass up for whoever ended up snatching the jewels, because snatched is exactly what they were. Sometime between the moment Lohan removed the jewels and the official report two days later, the items were stolen, and have yet to be found or returned to their rightful owner. That rightful owner, by the way, is Dior, which was kind enough to hand over a necklace and pair of earrings doubtless rich in eye-popping gems for the shoot.
While Lohan's reputation isn't exactly flawless, it doesn't necessarily indicate that she is prone to theft. And indeed, the magazine has released a statement insisting that the star is not specifically being implicated in the lifting of the jewelry. Nevertheless, she may find herself asked to an interview with the Scotland Yard, which has taken on the case and likely has an impressive amount of work piling up in the days and weeks ahead; after all, the photo shoot was packed with people from makeup artists to photographers, assistants, and other staple positions that work towards the creation of a successful shoot.
Having haute designer gems make a special guest appearance for the camera may be standard practice, but we wonder if events like these will lead the industry to consider taking on the trend of using costume jewellery instead. Still able to impart the glow and glamour of faceted jewels, costume jewelry can impress and inspire the eyes with a much smaller degree of cost, helping to mitigate the risks of theft, not to mention deterioration and other damage. Whether a style session calls for big rocks with lots of depth and interest or a complex combination of smaller stones studded across a unique landscape of metal, costume pieces can get the job done beautifully and keep worry and loss of wealth out of the equation.
Speculation on Lohan's involvement in the heist is varied, but while the folks at Scotland Yard toil over this particularly glamorous whodunnit, it's clear we'll be seeing a lot more Lohan in the daily dump of celebrity news.