“In 1961, I was nine years old and starving hungry for everything that was stylish and groovy. I clapped eyes on the [Jaguar] E-type and flipped. This beautiful object has been a personal design obsession of mine ever since. The E-type was created fifty years ago during the Mid-Century design revolution. The goal of the April 20th celebration is to draw a perfectly straight line from that period of fabulous innovation to the present day when great design is once again at the forefront of our culture.”
– Simon Doonan
The event Mr. Doonan is referring to is the Jaguar E-Type’s 50th Anniversary Celebration, which took place last Wednesday at the Frank Gehry-designed IAC building in NYC. Luxury, design, and originality were the buzzwords of the evening, a catalyst of which was Doonan, who masterminded the evening’s aesthetic (complete with an E-Type replica emblazoned with a decoupage of 60s fashion and lifestyle photography). He wasn’t the only Jaguar fan involved: Megan Fox (flanked by husband Brian Austin Green, below) made a surprise appearance to emcee the global unveiling of the 2012 XKR Coupe.
Such cases are lucky (or unlucky) coincidences but when a brand actually PAYS for a celebrity’s endorsement to garner buzz, the partnership choice can raise more than a few eyebrows. Some partnerships make total sense: Mark Wahlberg for Calvin Klein Underwear (come on, now) or, say, Bill Cosby for Jell-O; others, leave us scratching our heads a bit (Jamie Lee Curtis for Activia? Really?)
So what works and what doesn’t? I’d love to hear what you all think…
xoxo, Julie
julie.bensman@thefashionspot.com
images: Getty
––––
