giraffe attack

Models IN; Celebrities OUT

Except for Madonna for Dolce & Gabbana, all the major labels cast models for their fall 2010 campaigns. Here’s a handy list of next season’s major faces:

• Yves St. Laurent: Daria Werbowy
• Gucci: Raquel Zimmermann
• Chanel: Freja Beha Erichsen, Abbey Lee Kershaw, and Brad Kroenig
• Fendi: Anja Rubik and Baptiste Giabiconi

• Louis Vuitton: Christy Turlington, Karen Elson, and Natalia Vodianova (though these names are rumored, not confirmed)
• Balenciaga: a cast of ten models, including Elson and Stella Tennant
• Roberto Cavalli: Gisele Bündchen
• Dior: Karlie Kloss
• Dolce & Gabanna: Madonna

So … why so many models? Why NOW? It is that age-old trend question of how designers decide the same things at the same time. How do they all decide on M.C. Hammer pants one season and M.C. Hammer sweatpants the next? Karl Lagerfeld always has an appreciably simple and honest answer for these things:

“Why? Because I love them: They have the right look and class,” said the multitasking designer.

… Lagerfeld notes there are “not so many” celebrities around from which to choose. What’s more, their “overexposure in ‘people’ magazines also makes it that one may be a little tired of celebrities and the red carpet. I love models and there are great ones for the moment.

“A change was needed,” he continued. “Celebrities want to do their own lines, their fragrances, which sometimes works for a short time.”

Yes, maybe designers are sick of celebrities getting too big for their britches with all these fashion lines they “design.” But Gisele elegantly conceded she doesn’t really design her flip-flops line herself. Maybe the worse problem is that celebrity fashion in its most quintessential form — red-carpet attire — has gotten so bad. But models, on the other hand, aren’t usually remembered for formalwear that causes Vogue editors to compare them to gross diner food.

Models Edge Out Celebs in Fashion Ads [WWD]

Models IN; Celebrities OUT