Say goodbye to logos, hello to monograms
From an article by Suzanne S. Brown on The Denver Post
On the new Gap TV commercials, Madonna and Missy Elliott wear corduroy jeans embroidered with their first initials on the back pockets.Madonna also has “Lady M” silk-screened down the side of her pants, while Elliott has her first name stenciled and studded on the sleeve of her sweatshirt.
Look closely at the ad and you’ll see Madonna’s diamond “M” necklace and the “MSE” diamond rings Elliott flashes.
September’s issue of YM features teen actresses Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen on the cover wearing tank tops customized with their initials in large block letters. Inside the magazine, Christie Martin earrings with the twins’ initials in gothic lettering dangle from their lobes.
Celebrities aren’t the only ones who prefer to promote their initials rather than the LVs, CCs, DBs and other designer logos that in recent years have set the standard in luxury status symbols.
Gap sold more than 1,100 pairs of monogrammed jeans and corduroy pants in a one-day promotion last week at its Manhattan store at Fifth Avenue and 54th Street, says spokeswoman Erica Archambault. “There has been a huge customer response,” she says. The company offers monogramming online through the end of August.
>In the next few months, expect to see the return of the initial, on everything from handbags and T-shirts to cashmere sweaters and costume jewelry.While fashion insiders aren’t predicting a wholesale return to the era of monogrammed evening pumps and circle pins, change is coming.
“There is kind of a retro feeling, with initials on shirts that remind you of ‘Laverne and Shirley,’ but a big part of it is that people are weaning themselves away from logos,” says Roz Pactor, vice president for fashion merchandising at Foley’s in Houston.
“It’s more about themselves. They’re saying, ‘It’s about me, not Ralph Lauren or Tommy Hilfiger.’ ”
Thanks to Mark for sending this last picture of the giant Sunset Bvd Gap billboards to MadonnaTribe. Click to enlarge.