‘It’ girl effect: How celebrities are fuelling Australian fashion
From swimwear to sunnies, Kim Kardashian and Beyonce are putting young Australian designers on the world’s fashion radar.
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A-listers are putting young Australian designers on the world’s fashion radar with barely-there bikinis, high-end activewear and cut-out dresses.
And it means big business for the locally-designed brands, who notice a huge increase in sales whenever an A-lister wears their clothes or accessories.
Fashion’s most influential stars have been supporting Australian brands lately, with Kim Kardashian West causing a near-frenzy when she wore a bikini by “it” girl Instagram label With Jéan.
It promoted a surge in popularity for the metallic two-piece, with the Australian-designed brand from Queensland being forced to restock the swim set – a $79 “Baby” bikini bra top and $69 pair of briefs from its “Baby Drip” collection – to keep up with unprecedented demand.
Vogue Australia fashion director Christine Centenera has her label Wardrobe.NYC which has been seen on supermodels Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner, while Kylie Jenner has been wearing a lotof Sydney designer Dion Lee.
Posing on Instagram, the Kylie Cosmetics founder showcased a $371 Dion Lee bralet, a $490 fringed tube top, and a $500 mini-dress from the label to her 225 million Instagram followers.
Kendall wore a vanilla-coloured lounge set from Sydney designer Bec & Bridge in an episode of the final series of Keeping Up With the Kardashians. When Emily Ratajkowski wore Bec & Bridge’s “Toi Et Moi” dress – a long, slinky vanilla-coloured gown with cut-outs on the sides – it had to be “recut” (remade) to meet the demand, a Bec & Bridge spokeswoman said.
Australian swim labels have huge celebrity followings, particularly in the lead up to the American summer.
Nearly all the Kardashians and Jenners have worn bikinis by Australian labels Sommer Swim, I.AM.GIA and Triangl, while Khloe Kardashian gave a dress from Sydney‘s Zimmermann label her seal of approval poolside.
Teamed with a black and red tweed mini-suit, Beyonce also posed in a pair of $129 glasses from Sydney-based eyewear brand, Le Specs.
The Bondi Beach accessories icon has also been sported by Kourtney Kardashian (who wore its “Outta Love” ’90s-style micro-frames) and Meghan Markle, who was seen wearing Le Specs’ “Le Danzing” sunnies in California, prompting it to be one of the eyewear company’s best-selling styles.
So what impact does it have on an Australian brand when an A-lister – like Beyonce, a Hadid or a Kardashian – wears it?
“It is always so surreal to see a celebrity wearing something you have designed,” With Jéan co-founder and director Sami Lorking-Tanner said.
“It obviously creates a lot of attention for the brand and always feels like an achievement for us personally, especially when it is KKW.”
Known for its mini-dresses, cropped cardigans and swimwear, With Jéan had a “huge increase” in sales for the bikini Kardashian wore.
“We’ve had to restock to keep up with the demand not only just for that bikini but all the swimwear in our latest ‘Baby Drip’ collection (as a result),” Ms Lorking-Tanner said.
And Kim won’t be the last of her famous family to wear With Jean. “We have just sent off a big parcel to a Jenner so stay tuned,” she teased.
So how did the most famous woman in the world come to wear a bikini designed Down Under?
“We work closely with our PR agent in the US who reaches out to celebrities and stylists every time we launch a new collection,” Ms Lorking-Tanner said.
“We sent a bunch of pieces to Kim’s stylist and Kim would have picked the bikini out herself for her vacation.
“We’ve had some big name girls wearing With Jéan over the last few years, in particular Emily Ratajkowski wore our ‘Isabelle’ dress in a few different colourways and created an unbelievable amount of demand causing the dress to sell out and the same situation when Bella Hadid wore our ‘Marseille’ dress and ‘Vivien’ dress, people started referring to the dresses as ‘the Bella dress’ and also sold out almost instantly.”
The “it” girl effect is has an immediate impact on product searches and sales when a celebrity wears a piece of clothing or accessory, according to a leading online retail expert.
Raissa Gerona, chief brand officer of Revolve, said Kendall Jenner and Hailey Bieber were among the most influential style icons for the global e-commerce site.
“I love Kendall Jenner … we always look to her for style inspiration,” Ms Gerona said, speaking to News Corp from West Hollywood.
“I think all these women embody themselves, in terms of being confident and sexy in their own way.
“I really, really love (Hailey’s) … style. She is incredible.
“Even when she’s in her ‘pandemic outfit’ – sweats, and stuff, she figures out how to make it cool and her own, while being deliberate in what she’s trying to do and being confident.”
Originally published as ‘It’ girl effect: How celebrities are fuelling Australian fashion
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