Would You Stop Wearing A Brand Because Kanye West and Kim Kardashian Front Their Ad?

 

 

Unless you have been spending too much time trimming your tree or are perpetually knee-deep in eggnog this holiday season, you would know by now that Kim Kardashian and Kanye West have been named the new faces of Balmain’s 2015 Spring/Summer menswear advertising campaign. And most likely you now need to be eyebrow-deep in eggnog after seeing it.

Photographed by Mario Sorrenti nothing says happy holidays quite like the shrill pout of Kimye. Of course, the two pose in what is meant to be a seductive situation but actually just turns into their own personal Kiss Cam. (You know, basically what every photo on their iphone looks like, minus the pics of North West in puffy fur jackets.)

Since winter vacation is officially here, it’s time for holiday confessions.

Creative director, Olivier Rousteing calls the two “the new modernity.” It’d be pushing it to say I understand where Rousteing is coming from. I respect him as a creative visionary, however disagree with that title, unless of course modernity has taken in a new definition and now means to be fabricated and predictable.  I don’t mean to be throwing shade around the holiday season, but I can’t imagine this ad will help the brand gain much more then a quick flicker of attention.

Aside from causing a horrific mob of people to whip out their iphones at a moments notice, the two also have a certain power to be able to turn a elegant and sharp label into something ratchet. For me, and some leading fashion insiders I call friends (that shall remain nameless), agree that Kim and Kanye’s connection to Givenchy only made the brand lose its luster.

It’s the same affect as seeing someone on the street in your favorite jacket from a couple of seasons ago – you still love everything about the look, but that magic and prestige is no longer there. It becomes something less then assessable, something that no longer holds a transformative power. It’s just, eh.

What brand will these kids sprinkle their ho-hum charm on next?