ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, November 11, 1996 TAG: 9611120129
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARK KENNEDY ASSOCIATED PRESS
Flip through any magazine these days and chances are you'll recognize a lot of the clotheshorses.
Isn't that red-hot dancer Sauvion Glover plastered on the FilaSport campaign? Could that be Willem Dafoe parading for Prada? Are those Jamie Lee Curtis' luscious gams hawking L'eggs pantyhose?
Why yes, yes and yes.
Advertisers' use of celebrities is at an all-time high - from the omnipresent ``milk mustache'' campaigns to celebrity endorsements for ready-to-wear. If models once dreamed of becoming actresses, today's actors and actresses are wannabe models.
One of the splashiest celebrity debuts is Donna Karan's multiple-page, black-and-white layout for fall featuring Demi Moore and Bruce Willis in a variety of sultry poses.
But how did Karan snag Hollywood's oh-so-sweet couple to sell her clothes?
Call it the F.O.D. phenom - they're Friends of Donna.
``Donna just really, really loves them, and loves what they expressed visually through photography,'' says Trey Laird, a senior vice president at Donna Karan. ``They really summed up the body language and sensuality that she wanted to express, especially this season.''
Karan is certainly no stranger to using celebs. Last year her clothing was modeled by such personalities as actor Fred Ward, singer Diana Ross and actress Isabella Rosellini.
``For us, it's a very sophisticated customer we're trying to reach,'' says Laird.
But why would Willis, who now commands more than $15 million per film, and his $12 million-a-picture wife need to appear in fashion magazines?
``It gives them yet another kind of persona - a fashion persona, which they don't really have as yet,'' says Jeff Buchman of the Fashion Institute of Technology. ``And now they do.''
Other entertainers from TV, music and film are also lining up for an image makeover: John Malkovich appears in Prada and Comme des Garcons campaigns, Candice Bergen helps sell J.P. Tod's loafers and M.A.C. cosmetics uses RuPaul and k.d. lang.
``You're being asked to identify with the lifestyle you believe that person to have,'' says Buchman. ``We're meant to envy and want to emulate them.''
So having a mere supermodel sell that suit isn't enough. Advertisers are leaping at the opportunity to photograph the already-famous.
``For us, we're always looking for interesting people to convey what we're trying to say,'' says Laird. ``Often those people are celebrities.''
And sometimes those interesting people aren't stick-thin professional models.
Some big-name clothing designers are turning away from stalwart models like Elle Macpherson, Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell and enlisting actresses - at a fraction of the cost - to display their latest creations.
Hoping to add freshness to her collections, New York designer Nicole Miller usually shuns the same faces, used over and over.
``I always question why these major advertising campaigns use the same girls. Everybody should develop their own image,'' says Miller, who last year lined up eight actresses for the runways, including Minnie Driver from the movie ``Big Night'' and Jill Hennessey from TV's ``Law and Order.''
Celebrities are hot because they bring ready-made audiences and an ability to emote when they strike a pose.
L'eggs chose Jamie Lee Curtis to front its fun line of pantyhose based on her wit and mischievousness. Plus, of course, those stunning legs.
Hanes picked 58-year-old Tina Turner as a model after a survey of women said the singer-dancer embodied control and resilience. The resulting $20 million fashion shoot went so well that those same photographs were used on her CD cover, ``Wildest Dreams.''
``In both situations we picked very suitable personalities who continue to speak to women of all ages and lifestyles,'' says Leila Meresman, spokesperson for parent-company Sarah Lee.
But with all these already-famous faces popping up in the scented pages of magazines or scampering down runways, what's a professional supermodel to do? Will poor, unemployed waifs be left on the bread line (or is that the croissant line)?
Don't be ridiculous, says Laird.
``It's not a celebrities-versus-model thing,'' he says, dismissing the notion of a revolt on the runways. ``I think the whole big picture is kind of growing together.''
Or, to put it another way, we are entering an era where the velvet ropes that once separated the beautiful from the talented have frayed.
LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. 1. Drew Barrymore posed for Prada's fall-winter 1995by CNBMiu Miu clothing line (above). 2. Female impersonator RuPaul (below)
appeared in a MAC cosmetics ad.
3. Singer Tina Turner was seen on a billboard for Hanes hosiery in
New York this year. color. 4. Movie actor Willem Dafoe is a model
for Prada's fall-winter 1996 menswear line (above) 5. and dancer
Savion Glover has posed for FilaSport.