Hm. This is interesting.
The adorable Selena Gomez just announced her plan to launch her very own fashion line, called Dream Out Loud by Selena Gomez. Due to launch in fall 2010, the line will be “pretty, feminine, and bohemian,” clothing, which Gomez says reflects her own personal style.
At the very young age of 17, and having no background in fashion, Selena naturally needed a little help, so her agent hooked her up with Tony Melillo and Sandra Campos. Melillo once designed for Generra and has his own line of menswear, while Campos has worked on the business side of the industry for 20 years at brands like Nautica and Ralph Lauren.
The two industry vets recently started Cynosure Holdings, their own licensing and branding company geared specifically to help grow and sell celebrity labels (smart move on their part).
The Disney star said of the partnering, “When I met Tony and Sandra, I was instantly comfortable with them and now they are just like family to me. They are so creative and I love how I can just call them up whenever and talk to them about everything, even if it’s just about changing a button. They’ve been so cool about everything.”
Melillo and Campos recruited New York’s Adjmi Apparel to manufacture the clothes, ultimately forming the holding company Adjmi CH Brands LLC. Now, the team holds the master license for the label and has started to meet with licensees for future handbags, footwear, and jewelry.
For now, though, the fall 2010 collection will feature bohemian dresses, floral tops, jeans, skirts, jackets, scarves and hats, all made from recycled or eco-friendly materials.
The young UNICEF ambassor said, “With my line, I really want to give the customer options on how they can put their own looks together. I want the pieces that can be easy to dress up or down, and the fabrics being eco-friendly and organic is superimportant. Also, the tags will all have some of my inspirational quotes on them. I’m just looking to send a good message.”
Hm. We’re torn about this.
On the one hand, we absolutely love Selena. She is always poised and tasteful, she believes in philanthropy, wants to use her fame to do good, and is actually talented. We know she has her head screwed on right, and we always have her back.
But she’s only 17! Her taste and style are still developing! Plus, with her music and acting careers, is it really necessary for the teen to add another job to her roster? Whatever happened to enjoying your youth? There is SO much time for things like this later on.
Plus, the retail market is already so saturated with celebrity clothing lines, most of which aren’t good. And where will this sell? We don’t think many high-end retailers want to jump on a teenybopper-designed line.
With all these factors, it’s more likely that she’ll follow in the footsteps of bff, Miley Cyrus, than end up enjoying profound success like the Olsen Twins, especially since the Olsens were considered fashion icons long before the launch of their line.
Don’t get us wrong, Selena is a cute dresser for sure. But iconic? Negative. Not yet, at least.
That said, Melillo, who is now the creative director for Dream Out Loud, said Selena, “has such a good sense of what she likes and what she doesn’t like. It was surprising as I’ve never worked with someone so young, and never really expected her to be that smart. She has a desire to be involved, and nothing is sent out there without her approval. It’s nice to see her have this genuine interest.”
So maybe we have nothing to worry about. We just don’t want to see the little lady fail!
Fingers crossed for a stellar collection!
[Image via WENN.]
