Will the craft world find Paris Hilton hot?

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If there’s one thing the crafting world lacks, it’s the pomp and zing of celebrities. Sure, Vanna White has her knitting and crocheting thing going on, and Leeza Gibbons had a scrapbooking line for a nanosecond, but so far there’s been no Big Name to add a little cachet to handmade stuff.

That is until now.

Debuting Sunday at the Craft & Hobby Assn. trade show in Anaheim is the Paris Hilton Creativity Collection of craft products, with scrapbooking and fabric embellishment kits aimed at tweens and teens. It’s already causing a minor uproar in the crafting world, with skeptical blog and message board comments such as this:

‘The PH line is another blatant attempt to attract younger, hipper, cooler, scrapbookers to the hobby. We are all saturated with product. They need to get some new blood to sell to.’

And this:

‘I do think this could be a good thing, though, to help scrappers lose the image of not being ‘cool’ or ‘modern’. Even though, I am NOT one bit impressed with Paris herself, the more ‘celebs’ doing our craft should be a good thing. If she plays it right, which she probably won’t.’

Wooky Entertainment, the Montreal-based company bringing the line to the public, believes Hilton is just the ticket to infuse some excitement into the crafting world and fill a needed niche for the younger set.

‘In the craft market we see a lot of demand for tweens and teens,’ said Genevieve Lecompte, Wooky’s vice president of sales and marketing, ‘but there’s not much to offer.’ Seeking a personality to pair with craft kits, Wooky executives approached Hilton, who liked the idea. ‘She’s a great icon for teens and young adults,’ Lecompte said. ‘And she’s a really creative person.’ Allegedly, she does scrapbook.

Hilton isn’t actually designing the line herself, but she does have approval on products and, of course, her glam style and personality will influence the design. The fabric embellishment kits include iron-ons with rhinestones, embroidery and appliques, and the scrapbook collection features albums, papers and blingy embellishments (Wooky isn’t releasing any images before the show). Kits are geared to teens who want everything coordinated and ready to go because, evidently, they’re as time-strapped as the rest of us.

Hilton is scheduled to make an appearance at the show Sunday, and we have no doubt that the booth will be packed. But the world will have to wait six to eight months to see the stuff in stores. Will it be hot? Only time will tell.

--Jeannine Stein

Image courtesy of Wooky Entertainment