Vogue UK reports that Acne Denim has appointed nineties model Kirsten Owen to be the face of their Spring '08 campaign.
The company hopes that by using an older, familiar face, as opposed to using the "youngest, trendiest of faces," the brand will appear more accessible to the less fashion forward; a strange objective for a brand that's courted exclusivity so well.
It's like when Gap put Coco, Chanel and Caroline in their ads and suddenly the fashion crowd was talking about which of their jeans fit best.
We understand the need to appeal to a new customer and we love recognizing older models in new ads. But picking a model who hit her stride twenty years ago, (unless she's of the Kate, Cindy, Naomi pack), might not be the best approach for this particular goal.
Because really, who's going to recognize Kirsten Owen in a new denim ad? The fashion-obsessed girls who spent their teens flipping through Vogue and learned about Acne denim in NYLON years ago? Or the girl who couldn't care less about which model represents her favorite brand of jeans?
posted by iximisspiggyixi
Feb 14, 2008 9:50AM
It's weird that they are just now announcing she'll be the face for the Spring/Summer 08 campaign...because most of that season's campaigns are already out and printed in mags.