The whole debate about celebrities covering magazines is an issue that doesn't seem to go away and Kim Kardashian is the prime example of just how far that trend has gone. Lynn Hirschberg hit the nail on the head when she wrote in W magazine that, 'Kim Kardashian can't sing, act, or dance, but she's found the role of a lifetime in the fine art of playing herself.' Based on recent events, it seems like that's one role that the fashion industry are no longer interested in.
As you'll remember, much was said about the reality star's absence from the Met Gala this month, with reports alleging that Anna Wintour did not want her there. Joe Zee also spoke out recently explaining that the most profitable Kardashian could not be considered as potential Elle cover star simply because that 'role of a lifetime' is not enough to bag her the big spot.' Is the fashion industry finally rejecting the overzealous interest in celebrity, or at least reality stars, that has dominated over the last few years? Well, at least that's what it seems.
'What's shocking to me is how important the red carpet is. At one point I thought it was ruining [fashion] but I don't think that anymore. I don't think any celebrity can take away from fashion,' André Leon Talley said this week. 'Not even Kim Kardashian could take away from fashion...Though, of course, Kim Kardashian didn't come to the Metropolitan Met Ball but [her boyfriend] Kanye West did.' While I'm not anti-Kardashian, there is a lot of truth in what he says. The rise in the celebrity-for-celebrities sake culture has been perpetuated by magazines who have been more than happy to put them on their covers and by designers who are increasingly clamouring to get them on the front rows at their shows, TV crews in tow.
'So would you ever dress Kim Kardashian?' Robin Givhan asked Ralph Rucci. 'No, I think that's bastardizing yourself [as a designer].'
What do you think?