The Paparazzi: Love Them or Hate Them, But Fashion Needs Them

The South African Sunday Independent newspaper has a very funny article from the point of view of a would-be paparazzo working in London. He points out that they are an essential part of film publicity these days. The same, of course, goes for fashion. If you think it is an accident that Cameron Diaz gets photographed carrying a different Tod's Roxy bag every day, you are wrong.

Cameron With Her New Bag Photo: xI7online.com

Tod's sends her the bags and when the photos come into the Tod's press office, they send them to the glossy magazines. When a magazine like Grazia does an article like the one they did on Cameron and her new bag (sadly not on line, but titled something like "She May Not Have A Man, But She's Got A New Favorite Bag,") it is pure PR joy. Women rush the stores, pages in hand and bags get sold. Which, of course, is what it is all about. Purseblog also has some of the snaps.

And it gets even trickier than that. Marilyn Heston, a fashion PR in Los Angeles, explained that all celebrities are not created equal. Who you give the free stuff to depends on the product and if you want a quick hit of PR (think Mischa or Nicole or Cameron) or a slow burn (someone like Jessica Alba or Kate Hudson who isn't photographed every day). A fact the frequently-photographed celebs are all too aware of. Do you think it is an accident that they are shot so often looking so great? No! They check the magazines just as often as the PR offices to make sure they're getting equal time. If the paps stop shooting them or the magazines stop running their photos, then they'll stop getting the graft. And what a horror that would be.