Pop star style to rock New York’s Fashion Week

By Elizabeth Lazarowitz

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Pop stars with their own clothing
labels are increasingly trying to hit a higher fashion note and
Gwen Stefani is the latest to venture onto the haute couture
runways of New York.

One of the hottest tickets at Fashion Week is the debut of
Stefani’s L.A.M.B. spring collection on Friday. Stefani,
vocalist for the band “No Doubt,” launched the brand (which
stands for “Love. Angel. Music. Baby.”) two years ago.

Pop stars have been setting fashion trends for decades. The
Beatles sparked a run on shaggy haircuts, David Bowie
popularized the “glam” look, and Madonna brought us thrift-shop
chic.

Americans are increasingly taking their fashion cues from
style-conscious celebrities whose candid photos are splashed
across the pages of magazines like US Weekly, InTouch and Life
& Style, and that has not escaped the notice of both retailers
and the stars themselves.

Now, many rockers want to make sure they get a piece of the
action when their styles begin to sell.

“It’s well observed that if a celebrity is spotted in
clothes and that’s captured in a magazine that the sales of
those clothes through the roof,” said Jeanne Sottile, vice
president of contemporary sportswear at department store
Bloomingdale’s. She said celebrities have begun to think:
“Well, I’m selling someone else’s (clothes), I might as well do
my own line.”

Jessica Simpson, Nelly, Sean “Diddy” Combs and Jennifer
Lopez all have their own clothing lines, along with Wu-Tang and
Kelly Osbourne. Singers Justin Timberlake, Beyonce and Outkast
star Andre “3000″ Benjamin have also recently announced plans
to debut their own apparel labels.

But an A-list name does not automatically guarantee
success.

Top fashion editors often turn their noses up at brands
they view as more analogous to fast food than haute cuisine.
Industry insiders who understand the difficulty of producing a
successful collection are sometimes skeptical of stars who have
little or no design experience.

In February, pop diva Jennifer Lopez unveiled her
“Sweetface” line, a more upscale counterpart to her J.Lo brand,
in the tents at New York’s Fashion Week to mixed reviews.
Crowds clustered around the flat-screen monitors just outside
of the venue booed her when she made an appearance at the end
of the show.

“It doesn’t matter whose celebrity name is on the label. It
has to fit, it has to have quality, it has to have a reason for
being,” said Michael Fink, senior fashion director at New
York’s Saks Fifth Avenue. “That’s what’s going to separate
everyone in this new arena.”

Luckily for Stefani, her eclectic, sexy styles have already
built a solid following among fashionistas. After being
introduced just two weeks ago at Bloomingdale’s, sales of the
collection have been extremely strong. At Saks, which has
carried the line for a year and a half, a L.A.M.B. full-length
leather trench coat with ruffles priced at $925 has been flying
off the racks.

Stefani’s decision to not use her own name on the line and
to give full credit to her collaborators, like veteran designer
Zaldy, rather than using a “ghost” designer, have helped endear
her to the fashion crowd, Fink said.

“What separates L.A.M.B. from what else is going on is that
there’s a real, intelligent business plan,” he said. “If they
do what they’ve been doing, it will be fantastic.”