Fashion Naming

The Washington Post has a fun little story on the ever-growing number of music and movie celebrities who are committed to extending their personal brands beyond the entertainment industry and into the realms of fashion and fragrance. Can you name the celebrities behind the following fashion brands (clues in parentheses)?

• L.A.M.B. (named after her best-selling CD, Love. Angel. Music. Baby.)
• Sweetface
• Princy (named after her father’s nickname for her)
• House of Dereon (named after her late grandmother, Agnez Dereon)
• Twenty8Twelve (named after her birth date, 12/28)

The answers are:

• L.A.M.B. — Gwen Stefani
• Sweetface — Jennifer Lopez
• Princy — Jessica Simpson
• House of Dereon — Beyoncé
• Twenty8Twelve — Sienna Miller

It may not be much of a jump from celebrity to fashion icon, but the usual caveats of brand extension apply:

You’ll want to give your new fashion brand its own identity, breathing life into it rather than naming it after yourself. Your fans normally want to live your lifestyle, not be you, and this brand strategy enables your line to flourish independently, more or less unaffected by the ups and downs of your entertainment career.

That said, your designs should reflect your own sense of style. In other words, you should actually want to wear your own brand — not all the time, but often enough that we know it’s “you.”  Otherwise, you risk being a fashion fad, not a brand.

My prediction for the next big celeb-turned-fashion-brand? Fergie.

According to an article in the Sydney Morning Herald, U.S. District Court Judge Harold Baer has ruled that Victoria’s Secret has the right to prevent Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Audrey Quock from launching a line of lingerie called ‘SEXY LITTLE THINGS,’ ruling that the lingerie giant has a prior claim on the phrase.

In his 17 page ruling, Judge Baer decided that ‘SEXY LITTLE THINGS’ is a suggestive mark (which often can be protected) rather than a descriptive mark (which generally cannot):

While the term describes the erotically stimulating quality of the trademarked lingerie, it also calls to mind the phrase “sexy little thing,” popularly used to refer to attractive lithe young women.

I have to agree with Judge Baer - the phrase ‘SEXY LITTLE THINGS’ is definitely suggestive! (Reposted)