Fashion pins hopes on shooting stars
Is Swift moving into a more controversial space?
Paris – The return of mega concerts, with Beyonce and Taylor Swift leading the way, has highlighted the lucrative link between fashion brands and pop stars.
Stage costumes have long been a way for designers to gain massive exposure – think of Madonna’s conical breasts which helped make French designer Jean Paul Gaultier a household name in the 1990s.
From Edith Piaf’s little black dress through Elton John’s whacky glasses to David Bowie’s elaborate fashion statements, music stars have often communicated with their clothes.
A pop star endorsement can have an immediate impact on a brand’s bottom line.
Sales of rhinestone cowboy hats increased by more than 1 600% after Beyonce wore one for her Renaissance tour, according to the Klarna payment platform.
Data specialists Launchmetrics estimated Alexander McQueen saw a $7.7 million (about R142 million) boost for dressing Beyonce, while Versace sales jumped $6.3 million, thanks to Swift.
Designer David Koma told Vogue magazine that one of his dresses sold out within a day after being worn by Beyonce and he saw a 53% increase in his Instagram followers within a month.
Dsquared2 designers
Dean and Dan Caten, who have also dressed Queen B, told the magazine: “For us, the objective is not really about sales but about image and the exposure that comes from aligning with a major artist that looks good in our clothes and fits our aesthetic.”
Swift goes throughabout 13 outfits a night on her Eras Tour.
These include ball gowns for the country section, sequinned ensembles for pop and vaporous dresses for her forays into folk.
They are courtesy of high-fashion labels like Cavalli, Louboutin and Versace, though she was not always an obvious fit for them.
“Luxury designers wouldn’t have been as interested in Taylor because her presentation as a pop star was down-to-earth, unlike someone like Beyonce or Lady Gaga,” said Satu Hameenaho-Fox, author of Into the Taylor-Verse. “But the level of her fame is so extreme now and she’s viewed as very much in the pantheon of great American songwriters.”
The 34 year old’s fans dissect every outfit for coded messages. Swifties will be eager to see how she presents songs off her new album, The Tortured Poets Department, which is getting its first live performances in Paris.
She adopts a Victorian Gothic aesthetic in the album artwork.
Intriguingly, for new song Fortnight, she wears outfits by young US designer Elena Velez, who has stoked controversy with provocative “post-woke” stunts.
“Does that mean that Taylor is moving into a more controversial figure space,” wondered Glenys Johnson, author of Taylor Swift: The Story of a Fashion Legend.
“The lyrics from her latest album were a lot about wanting to move beyond the good-girl image she has.”