Celebrities set up ethical shop
- Filed under: Famous, Fashion, Fashion Week, Kiss Bloggs, kissfendi
- Date: Jan 5,2008
We’ve seen Kate Moss knock off her own designer wardrobe for Topshop, had M, Madonna’s money-saving ranges for H&M, and “Lily [Allen] Loves” a bargain at New Look.
But cheap-as-chips celebrity collaborations are looking old hat compared with a new wave of tie-ups that have more than just self-promotion and the retailer’s bottom line in mind.
Natalie Portman, the star of films such as Mr Magorium’s Wonder Emporium and the Star Wars prequels, is going one step further by designing her own vegan-friendly shoes for a New York boutique.
The collection, for the Manhattan shoe emporium Té Casan, goes on sale next month although keen shoppers can place pre-orders from 15 January. The vegetarian actor’s designs will sell for about $200 (£100), making them a cheaper alternative to Stella McCartney’s leather-eschewing shoes which sell for at least £295.
So far eco-minded celebrity alliances have been few and far between, but retail experts predict that Portman’s shoes are the future of high street fashion for 2008. Leona Lewis, the X Factor winner turned pop diva and a fellow vegetarian, last week said she would “love” to create her own range of affordable non-leather bags and shoes.
Meanwhile, Debenhams has allied itself with Sir Steve Redgrave, the Olympic oarsman, who has put his name to a clothing range made with Fairtrade cotton that will go on sale for Fairtrade fortnight next month.
And Katharine Hamnett, the fashion designer, is searching for a new high street partner after axing her nascent alliance with Tesco for her range of T-shirts made from organic cotton.
Even Pamela Anderson, a spokeswoman for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, has done her bit with a cruelty-free clothing line. /news.independent.co.uk
