Fashion Diary: Lindsay Lohan named artistic adviser of house of Ungaro [UPDATED]*

Gossip, first impressions, trends in the making, celebrities and style setters. A regular feature by fashion critic Booth Moore.

In what seems to be a desperate bid for relevance, the troubled house of Emanuel Ungaro announced today the appointment of Lindsay Lohan as artistic adviser [UPDATED 12 p.m. An earlier version of this post’s story and headline stated that Lindsay Lohan was Ungaro’s new artistic director. She is the artistic advisor]. Estrella Archs (who has worked for Nina Ricci, Emilio Pucci, Christian Lacroix and Prada) was named chief designer. Apparently, the two have been collaborating on the spring collection which will be shown in Paris on Oct. 4.

"Twenty-first century muses are extroverts whose personal style and experience gives them strong creative and artistic focus. Thus our vision of combining the eye of the ultimate luxury consumer, a celebrity," said Mounir Moufarrige, president of Emanuel Ungaro.

The house was bought by Silicon Valley venture capitalist Asim Abdullah in 2003 and has had a revolving door of designers since then, most recently Miami wunderkind Esteban Cortizar.

It's a puzzling move for several reasons, the least of which is that Lohan's status as muse is questionable. (Doesn't she have a line of leggings?) In a time when everyone is mad for the 1980s, and so many designers (Nicolas Ghesquiere, Marc Jacobs, Phillip Lim) have dipped into the Ungaro archives for inspiration -- the brash prints, sculpted sleeves and ruffled cocktail confections -- it's sad that the original house cannot get it together. Oh well, who knows? Maybe it will work. Stranger things have happened. One thing's for sure: We'll all be paying attention.

-- Booth Moore

Ungaro runway photos: Fall 2009 | Spring 2010

Story: More on Lindsay Lohan's leggings line

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Photo: Lindsay Lohan, new artistic director at the house of Ungaro. Credit: PR Newswire

Comments

[Cillanyc]

Nicely written Booth.

[Suzanna]

Desperate, indeed - too bad they're committing retail suicide by making this choice. The president of Ungaro's quote says it all: he is clueless. She has no class, no style, and her life is an embarrassing wreck - not exactly a good role model or good muse material. The saddest part is that Lindsay Lohan so obviously needs help before she totally self-destructs, she doesn't need to be exploited any more than she already has been. And speaking of has been, she is passe - not exactly what you want to be in fashion. Maybe she'll surprise us all - one can only hope. I'd love to be wrong about this.

[whose_the_buyer]

I thought we were in a global recession so who's going to buy that high-end stuff? Maybe Wal-Mart?

[Dave]

Who cares.

[Geo]

My 1st reaction was also that Ungaro Was the 80s in many ways & they're reaching for a CA Blonde??
I wish Lohan the best but Ungaro is Not CA Blond!

[Helen]

I get that she may be a muse, but don't you have to actually have a relevant skill to be named artistic director? It's kind of depressing that there are so many talented hopefuls that actually have the credentials to do this kind of work. It will be interesting to see what happens, hopefully she will prove the skeptics wrong.

[Poucette]

Lindsay Lohan a muse? Doesn't she pay other people to dress her?

[Anonymous]

It seems as though Ungaro is trying to be hip by taking on a popular name, aka Lohan. Apparently, he's very unaware that 98 percent of the world population cannot stand this idiot. Way to go Ungaro. Good luck with this, you'll need it. (PS: BAD MOVE)

[Nick]

They should hire my wife instead - she's got timeless style in spades.

[Dave]

Hilarious video on Fashion's Night Out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smVR9myFUpM

[dontgetit]

Ooops- Looks like Lohan forgot her leggins in that photo! Can hardly wait- NOT

[dr. strangelove]

i can already foretell next year's headlines in the fashion magazines:

I Know Who Killed Ungaro...