The Business of Celebrity Dressing

Missoni has just announced that Edward O'Sullivan will be joining the brand as the head of worldwide celebrity dressing and entertainment. The hiring of O'Sullivan (actually he was a poached from Polo Ralph Lauren along with Meredith Keller) shows Missoni is no longer content to have the odd celebrity pop up in a magazine in a Missoni bikini. O'Sullivan could bring Angelina Jolie, Diane Krueger, and Sienna with him to the brand.

Celebrity endorsements and celebrity branding are big, big business. While most people didn't think of Snoop Dogg as the right choice to endorse clean cut label Tommy Hillfiger, Tommy was pretty happy with the 100 million dollars in profits.

But it's a system that isn't without its pitfalls and disasters. We all know that Victoria can kill a brand faster than lethal injection, but even some "they can do no wrong" stylish celebrities have been a disaster for the brands that signed them on.

For example, The Gap bumped Sarah Jessica Parker a year into her three year contract. Given that SJP was the queen of American style during the 6 season run of Sex and the City, it was pretty significant that even Carrie Bradshaw couldn't sell jeans and t-shirts. Tragically, SJP was dumped by the brand on her 40th birthday for 17 year old Joss Stone. But don't cry into your cosmos - Carrie got 38 million dollars. Not bad for wearing a couple pairs of cargo capri pants. But for The Gap, it was one of their worst earrnings years on record even without tacking on the cost of SJP's deal.

We can assume part of the celebrity push is to promote Missoni's accessories line, which has failed to give results even after having been launched over a decade ago. O'Sullivan will definitely have a fight on his hands, given the last two people to be photographed in Missoni were Courtney Love and Tara Reid.