The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Tuesday, February 20, 2007 - 5
Fashion's new face
far too familiar
America's blind obs
with celebrity life
just motivate the t
- it's also steered fashion,
point of artistic degradati
statuesque models once gr
covers of fashion magazin
stars and various other far
figures have stepped in to
the work of prominent des
For the past decade or so,
has driven the fashion ind
deliver familiar faces to
a gossip-ready public at
the unnecessary expense
of the garment industry's
integrity.
Fashion is an art form,
but it's also a business tha
relies heavily on its prod-
uct's marketability. By
attaching a celebrity's
name to a design label
- or even an entire
style - the brand is
exploiting pop culture's in
ible cache of likeable pers
But clothing should lend i
quality to a model's body,
versa. When Louis Vuitto
to someone like Jennifer L
boost its image, the design
sacrificing the very eleme
make her a fitting woman
in the first place - indepe
successful, stylishly bold
to an extreme. Fashion's p
in its ability to make a won
of these things, without th
manipulative advertising
There's no arguing that
rity endorsements have thi
to exponentially increase
but will a purchase based
begin to replace the reaso
passionate about what we
Even Vogue has jumpe
board; the glamorous high
magazine, made famous f
ting-edge design and haut
editorial spreads, used act
cover girls for nine of its i
year alone. Though many,
are beautiful - as well as
ents of solid public backin
net worths ranging in the
- should that give them th
ity to advertise innovative
Besides being silhouett
physical perfection, mode
sically possess something,
remains unattainable to e
highest-profile celebs - n
A model's body exists to b
and transformed by the fa
much in the same way tha
acter role should transfor
actor or actress assuming
using a celebrity who has
lished image in the public
designer is stripping its cl
their ability to recreate th
without a preexisting bias
Great fashion should be
Mondrian: conceptually e
but emotionally and intell
evocative, tangible in expr
but untouchable in its bea
recognizable face of a mov
simply cannot accomplish
Though the necessary
fication of models is in pa
qualifies them for a photo
ession over an actress or singer, let it
doesn't be known that personality is by
abloids no means expected to be absent.
to the Neutrality is not a measure of indif-
on. Where ference. Supermodels that have hit
raced the the mainstream have landed at the
es, movie top for a reason - and even their
mous specific personas are startingto get
show off in the way.
signers. The supermodel face is nearing
the media banal superficiality. Recent years
lustry to have seen a pattern in highlight-
ing models from an era
now long passed. From
Cindy Crawford and Jan-
ice Dickinson to Christy
Turlington and Kristy
Brinkley, the names of
t supermodels are now so
well-known that their
fame has reached a simi-
lar point of trivializa-
CAROLINE tion. Women from the
HARTMANN Age of the Supermodel
are no longer revered
texhaust- for their unique ability to display
onalities. fashion as it's meant to be seen.
ts own Instead, the very nature of their
not vice hard-earned success is what war-
n turns rants recognition well beyond their
Lopez to glory days of groundbreaking run-
n house is way shows. Figures like Kate Moss
nts that have entered into dangerous terri-
to dress tory, suspended in a kind of fashion
ndently purgatory between her skills as
and sexy a model and inescapable tabloid
ower lies attention.
man all From a more practical view-
he help of point, models have a career to
tactics. maintain that the current mar-
t celeb- ket will not continue to support.
ie ability
sales,
on fame
on wae Why Beyonc6 as
wear?
aon a cover model
h-fashion
or cut- hurts fashion.
e-couture
tresses as
ssues last When I heard Beyonce won this
actresses year's Sport's Illustrated Swimsuit
recipi- Edition's cover, I was up in arms
g and - not because her beauty and tal-
millions ent don't deserve recognition, but
he author- because she doesn't need it. The SI
fashion? cover is a behind-the-scenes, com-
es of petitive crusade, capable of making
ls intrin- a model's career - one of the most
that accessible media venues to cata-
ven the pult a rookie into stardom. Yes, the
eutrality. modeling workforce is obviously a
e adorned minority faction of the world's pop-
shions, ulation, but the job is rarely viewed
it a char- with the respect it deserves.
m the As Oscar night approaches
it. By - a fashion spectacle and personal
an estab- guilty pleasure - rumors of who
's eye, a willbe named "best dressed"
othes of become increasingly important,
e body since the media circus provides
s. designers with an ideal marketing
like a tool. But for one night, letthat be
lusive all, because the potential threat to
ectually the fashion industry, should design-
ression ers dare to extend celebrity involve-
uty. The ment into the realm of couture
vie star modeling, is dangerously imminent.
this.
objecti- - Hartmann thinks everything
rtwhat should be like a Mondrian. E-mail
shoot her at carolinh@umich.edu.
She's got the pedigree, the looks and the chops. When is Nora Jones going to cut an above-average record?
Even-keeled
JONES'S TRADEMARK MELLOW SOUND LOSING ITS EDGE
By CAITLIN COWAN
Daily Arts Writer
It's hard not to fall in love with Norah Jones.
The mysterious, raven-haired Texan is the
daughter of iconic sitarist
Ravi Shankar and a sometime
student of jazz piano at the **
University of North Texas.
Her cross-genre appeal has Norah Jones
garnered a fan base as diverse
as her influences, her dulcet Not Too Late
voice and tactful piano earn- alue Note
ing strong if restrained praise.
Her debut album, Come
Away With Me, captivated the
hearts and ears of dewy-eyed young girls, cof-
fee-shop patrons and mellow jazz lovers alike.
Her next effort, Feels Like Home, wasn't quite as
successful either critically or commercially, but
it remained consistent with her debut: earnest
piano gently defined by percussive stand-up
bass and minimal drums.
Not Too Late, seems to come from another
time and place entirely - and not always for the
better. In fact, the album suffers in comparison
to her last two albums, which were marked by a
measured consistency.
The minimalist opening track, "Wish I demise. A mellow, unremarkable groove under-
Could," sets a mellow tone for the album from scores overly simplistic lyrics and a warmed-
which Jones rarely deviates. However, in their over sound. The songs that follow are a series of
own way, the next half dozen tracks are varied well-orchestrated blunders. The observational
and distinctive. The plodding, show-tune sound "Little Room," an unlikely song about sex, trips
of "Sinkin' Soon" comes complete with mis- through silly lyrics like "There's bars on the
placed trumpet hits, banjo and, like many other window / And if there were a fire we'd burn up
tracks on the album, strangely naive lyrics. for sure" before finishing with a half-hearted
"We're an oyster cracker on the stoop / and the whistle.
honey in the tea / we're the sugar cubes / one It gets worse. At first the lilting "My Dear
lump or two / in the black coffee," Jones coos. Country" sounds like it belongs in an animated
The brilliance of another cut, "The Sun feature until the lyrics float lazily to the sur-
Doesn't Like You," sounds like typical Norah, face. "I love the things that you've given me /
reminiscent of songs like Come Away With Me's And most of all that I am free / To have a song
"Nightingale" but notably more upbeat. "So that I can sing on election day." Politics and sen-
tonight we can build a fire / in the open field timental piano ballads don't mix. The effect is
past the razor wire," she sings. Grounding ethe- tackierthan a plastic purple ring from a gumball
real love songs in natural imagery is a staple of machine.
Jones's music, and for good reason - it works. Jones tries to create something truly artful
"Not My Friend" is the sonic equivalent of a on Not Too Late, but there simply isn't enough
sad-looking half-carat diamond ring. Delicate passion behind her songs to bring them togeth-
acoustic picking sparkles in the background er. After the disappointingsecondhalf dwindles
while Jones delivers some of her sweetest, most to a close, the title grows more ironic. Jones is
affecting material in a broken lilt: "You are not still more than capable of producing albums
my friend /I cannotpretend anymore," she sings, of better quality, but Not Too Late exposes her
"You found a place no one should ever go." inconsistencies. Whether she can regain what
The watered-down first single, "Thinking kepther first two albums from sounding like her
About You," marks the beginning of the album's third remains to be seen.
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