How Lo(han) Can You Go

This week, the couture house Ungaro announced that the notorious lesbian delinquent Lindsay Lohan has become its artistic adviser; Ms Lohan will collaborate with thier new chief designer, Estrella Archs. Just how desperate can you get? How incongruous that this Hollywood tramp would become part of the artistic legacy of a 43-year-old label whose namesake, Emanuel Ungaro, was once a protégé of Cristobal Balenciaga, one of the greatest couturier of all time.
Mounir Moufarrige, the chief executive of the company, acknowledged that the move would create waves among fashion purists, but he argued that the times called for a maneuver he likened to “electric shock treatment.”
Sales of the Ungaro collection have dropped substantially since Mr. Ungaro sold his business in 1996. None of the designers hired to replace him since his retirement five years ago have suceeded at the label. Mr. Moufarrige joined Ungaro in 2006 and has previously turned around the fortunes of luxury labels like Goyard and Chloé. He said: “A designer alone is not enough to get us back where we were, unless I had Tom Ford or Phoebe Philo".
Mr. Moufarrige said Ms Lohan's notoriety is a plus, and he pointed out that she has appeared on the cover of countless fashion magazines, like Elle and Harper’s Bazaar. “The girl is good-looking,” he said. “If I have bad taste, then the fashion editors have bad taste.”
Says Ms Lohan: “My fashion school has been my experience with people in fashion, working on photo shoots and creating my own style,” she said. "I’m not coming in to take over and take away from anyone. I’m just bringing insight to things.” She has wanted to work in fashion since she was a little girl, she said, and she follows the industry closely. “When I say I love fashion, I really do. I live and breath fashion. There’s this Balmain motorcycle jacket, and when I got one of the few they made without the shoulder pads, I literally screamed.” She won't be the only one screaming.
(Source: NYT)