14 DAY TRIAL // Hollywood actress and paparazzi favorite Lindsay Lohan teamed up with fashion giant Ungaro last month in a bid to bring some well-deserved media attention to the upcoming collections of the fashion house and start a brand rejuvenation. Lohan became the official style advisor for Ungaro, and her first collection as such was unveiled during the Paris Fashion Week over the weekend. Despite built-up hype and sense of anticipation, the first reviews are anything but positive.
For once, it’s not Lindsay’s reputation in the media that is being cited as the main reason for the collection never really taking off – quite on the contrary. Most fashion insiders and critics expected from Ungaro a line that would capture the very essence of Lohan, a star who is known for her unique style and fearlessness when it comes to taking everything about it one step further. What the collection offered, instead, was a watered-down version of it, verging on tacky and uninspired, with more faults than merits.
Women’s Wear Daily, for one, calls Lohan’s debut with Ungaro “embarrassing” and painful to watch, showing that, sometimes, celebrities should stay out of things they don’t know, like fashion in this particular case. “As for the clothes, they looked cheesy and dated, as has often been the case chez Ungaro during the post-Emanuel revolving door of designers. Hot pink, orange and flashy, with an overworked heart motif relentless in its execution, the collection displayed none of the promised younger side Lohan was supposed to deliver. Nor in a million years would one guess that the lineup was designed by one young woman and ‘creative directed’ by another. Glitter heart pasties all around, ladies?” WWD writes.
The fashion-oriented e-zine goes on to say that, while fashion is no brain surgery, it takes more than just the ability to wear another designer and look good for photo ops in order to make it in the industry. Lohan is the clearest example of this, the only thing she accomplished with this collection being that she managed to bring the house of Ungaro back in the spotlight again – for all the wrong reasons, for all that matters. Nevertheless, given that they say bad publicity is better than no publicity at all, this might very well turn out to be a promising start.
This is also the premise of reviewers at Fashion Wire Daily, although they too say the collection in itself amounts to almost zero value. “This collection never really soared. While it had enough of the house’s signatures, it felt more like a diffusion line than a major signature collection. […] Moreover, too many of the styling tricks did not come off. Covering the chest with sequined hearts is one thing, but placing the same thing on a half dozen heads was naff. And on three occasions straps fell off shoulders, or breasts suddenly swung out from tuxedo jackets, which was a little unlucky, but did not look very professional.” FWD writes.