Good morning, Wednesday. It's going to be a very cold day today and sounds like tonight is going to be all about carbo loading and watching TV and fuzzy socks. Commence bundling at once.
So yesterday saw the release of yet another story to "break the internet", that of Joan Didion being the new face of Celine, replacing Daria Werbowy in the latest campaign shot by Juergen Teller. Sigh. The Guardian declared her Celine's new "cool girl". Double sigh.
I'm sorry to say I find the whole thing pretty flat. As my Facebook and Instagram blew up with the oohs and aahs of fans of Joan (aren't we all) and a dear friend of mine texted me about it as if Christ had just risen, I found the ad itself to be, well, boring. Unflattering. Unappealing. Next.
Vogue magazine, who seemingly wet their Hanro knickers when they heard the news had this to say: "Well, did you just feel the collective intake of breath shared by every cool girl you know? Did you feel the pulse-quickening vibrations of every recent college grad and literature fan? Did you sense the earth trembling beneath your feet? Do you have two eyes and a heart?" Um, seriously?
Which brings me to another thought, and it's something I've been pondering since before the new year when Kim K graced the cover of Paper and Jena Lyons was being whispered about as too "big" for her boiled wool J. Crew britches. Has the cult of celebrity become an almost dangerous place for brands to tread in? I'm talking mostly about the big celebs here, and to me, Kim was simply too big a name for Paper magazine, and though I'm not sure, I'm wondering if it's Paper who is at all lauded or panned for such a cover, of if people were simply too taken by Kim K's well oiled "machine" to even notice what magazine was promoting her? It could have really been any of them, and I'm not sure it did wonders for Paper's brand. It's simply because her star is so exceedingly bigger than theirs, and latching on to it may not have been such a great strategy and just seemed more sensationalistic than smart, because nobody cares anymore.
In the case of Jena Lyons contributing to sagging sales because she has simply usurped the brand she rules over, I'm on the fence. I think Jena has done wonders to make J. Crew very much a fashion brand, but her geek chic hyper stylized presentation has alienated many a core J. Crew customer, who is way more interested in a high quality twin set than oversized glasses and a men's oxford unbuttoned to the navel. I think she's done wonders for the brand, but perhaps she needs to take it down a notch and remember that sexy and preppy may not hold court together after all. (I think they do, but...)
Which brings me to Joan Didion, whose simple packing list is the stuff of fashion legend, and whose writing has long been a favorite of the intellectual set who likes their martinis dry and their literature much the same. I think Joan's brilliance far surpasses her sorry ad for Celine, a brand whose clothes and aesthetics I very much admire and covet. But to me, they diminished their brand by trying to capitalize on the sensation of photographing a well aged highbrow fixture hiding behind a pair of sunglasses, and all I could see was an old woman looking sad, non-triumphant, and from the looks of it, over it. I know that's Joan's ace in the hole by the way, but to me, the brand may have misfired by trying to celebrate an icon and the beauty of age- Joan is not a model. Joan is an author, albeit a very chic one. Joan indeed emulates a waifish silhouette and her icy good looks have always made her a fashion world favorite. But to me, the attempt was sad, pandering, and left me feeling weird. The cult of celebrity has turned us all into a sycophantic, sheepish society and although Joan stands for very much the opposite, I am so sick of celebrities in general, even the cool, culty ones. Didion's work has always been frought with an anxious sense of dread and despair- is that what Celine stands for? I guess I'm confused- are they in on it or do they not get it at all? I think they just care that at one point in her career, she wrote for Vogue. Joan, you're better than this. You just are. But of course as I read about Joan for this piece and also got swept up in that infamous packing list (it was the bourbon and cigarettes that got me), I too got a bit swept up in all things Didion, but can't that be enough? Do we really need to love her more because she shills for Celine? I don't. Maybe you do, but I don't.
So no, I don't love the ad and don't find it empowering or interesting or liberating. I just find it kind of silly. And that's what's up this over exposed Wednesday in the 212. Yours, in playing it as it lays. Agree to disagree. XO