1 A “celebrity” refers to an actor, or a person appears on media and implied with great popular appeal, prominence in a particular fi eld, and is recognized by the public. However, it's as opposed to an “icon”. Celebrities' fashion, appearance, and their private lives have affected the general audiences constantly. The cult of the celebrity has been unprecedentedly grown from the past decade, and it has affected the fashion industry, which means a huge shifts within them. Regardless of a fi lm star's success of the star's film, The star still can gain some reputations, and get a potential to earn by function as a fashion icon. However, Celebrities contain fashion designer, fashion journalists, athletes and numerous of them are functioning as fashion icons. The best word to describe this could be personification. Personification refers to assign the qualities of a person to something that isn't human or, in some cases, to something that isn't even alive. In other case, personification can be an imaginary person or creature conceived or fi gured to represent a thing or abstraction in dictionary meaning.
The image of a celebrity is uncertain, and audiences only judge them by the roles that they have taken in a tv show or films, or the photographs that they were taken or they have taken, or any articles, and rumors about celebrities. The celebrities, or fashion icon's screen personal was carefully developed by studio. It is unclear which can be “abstract”. Therefore, medias can always craft their identities by their appearance, behavior, lifestyle, and fashion style as well as the title as fashion icon whom evokes the image of fashionable woman who is an expert in fashion style with great taste, who fi rst gets to wear or predict what's new and what's next. As the economic and technology quickly grow, and develop the obsession with the celebrity make radical change. Rather than models, celebrities are now used for many covers shots of magazines, while the fashion and beauty pages tell their readers how to emulate particular star's look. We learn desirable behaviors by imitating the actions and behaviors of those around us, who serve as role models, and the media's power brings a change in the belief, attitude or behavior of a person. It might be from a person around them but most frequently, it is the media where they get to see, read, or listen to the celebrities' activities. A fi lm star's talents or their
2 function as a film star is now less important than press and internet coverage of the star's fashion and their personal lives. Clothing is one of the most visible forms of consumption, and it performs a major role in the social construction of identity. In the past, dressing up identified a person's social status in public space, but as time goes by with variety and majority changes of culture and growth of society, various aspects of identity were expressed in clothing. Clothing indicate shifts in social relationships, and it provides a different way to present themselves in public. There are several representative examples of fashion icons, and fashion designer who gave a big infl uences.
Joan Crawford, and Adrian Adolph Greenberg gave a big infl uence. Joan Crawford was an actress who became known as the Queen of Camp, and she infl uenced fashion throughout the 1930s and 1940s with Adrian Adolph Greenberg who was widely well known as Adrian and worked as an American fi lm and famous fashion designer. He was highly celebrated and he designed costumes for all the major stars such as Greta Garbo, Norma Shearer, Katharine Hepburn and Joan Crawford in every important movie. Film costumes had to make the stars look their best, and it had to suit for the character that they played. It also had to be reasonably authentic as well as accessible to the audience's eye. Adrian had designed all of Joan's costumes in the beginning of 1920's up until the 1940s.
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figure 1: Joan Crawford's famous puff-sleeved dress by Adrian for the film Letty Lynton in 1932
In the figure 1 it is the Crawford's famous puff-sleeved dress, designed by Adrian for the film Letty Lynton in 1932. This dress brought a sensation during the period. It was immediately copied, and inspired young women' party dresses for the next ten years. Joan Crawford indicated that “I never go out unless I look like the movie star Joan Crawford. If you want to see the girl next door, go next door.” What she had indicated to her fans brought up more attentions due to her confi dents, and her role as a poor girl who married to the rich guy and got all the beautiful clothes, or the rich girl who married the chauffeur and still got all the clothes. The label “Clothes Horse” was given to Joan, and most of her photographs were big fashion shows and showcasing beautiful gowns and her beauty.
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figure 2: Joan Crawford in the evening gown by Adrian
Crawford used the clothes well on screen, and she became a fashion icon for all women who admired her. She set her image as a cold, almost freezing, on the sets of all of her photographs, and she felt that this contributed her makeup and her skin clarity. She formed her own image in coldness and she lived as Joan Crawford in the movie. Her role as a poor girl who married to a rich guy or a rich girl who married to a poor guy but still get all the clothes affected a lot between her and fashion designers. Many young girls emulate her style, make ups, and admired Joan Crawford's life and her dress that she worn in her movie were frequently copied large quantity production. Film is not just a movie but it also acted as a form of international fashion show. However, her strong participation to fashion led her to an end as a film star, and after the divorce with Franchot Tone, her career had done as well.
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If Joan Crawford dominated the beginning of 1900s, Marilyn Monroe took the lead of middle of the period. She was an international sex symbol and a pop culture phenomenon and still she is. Monroe was an American actress, model, and singer. She started to getting attention in 1950 and became a major sex symbol during the 1950s and early 1960s. When Adrian designed a costume for Joan Crawford, William Travilla the costume designer worked with Marilyn Monroe. Travilla designed the Marilyn Monroe's iconic white dress in figure 3 for her movie in
figure 3: Marilyn Monroe's iconic white dress by Travilla. worn in the film The Seven Year Itch 1955, The Seven Year Itch. The dress became the icon of the history of fi lm, and Monroe's image in the white dress standing in subway has became one of the iconic image of the 20th century. This dress later in 2011 sold for more than 5.6 million dollars. It has been over half of a century since Marilyn Monroe wore her white dress in the movie, it's still remarked as the most iconic fashion moment of all time. Ashley Bellet claimed that Marilyn Monroe
6 had a huge impact on women's fashion, and she really made it ok to be sexually attractive. Especially in costume design, they use some of those elements that are very specifi c to marilyn, to heighten a character's sexual attraction. Marilyn's clothes were often tight, daring, and revealing, and she was an icon of femininity and sexuality. Her curvy, and seductive figure matched well on her sexual icon, as well as her messy life style drove more attention to her and it made her more famous and she even became a fashionista.It was an improper behavior during the period but Monroe kept her image as sexual icon and it was another huge impact on the society to see a girl appealing her sexuality in public. As well as her blonde curls, bright red lipstick, and high-arched brows as seen in the fi gure 4 created a signature look which is still recognized as her look until now.
figure 4: Marilyn Monroe with her iconic make up
Therefore, even Marilyn's age would have been 86 this year, A lot of contemporary celebrities follow her style such as Madonna, and Miranda Kerr in fi gure 5 and 6 but there are many more contemporary celebrities followed her look which almost seem like they are competing to find out who looks more like Marilyn Monroe or as sexy as her. Also, they constantly borrow the beauty tips from her.
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figure 5: Madonna following Marilyn Monroe's look
figure 6: Miranda Kerr in Marilyn Monroe's white dress and make up However, even Monroe's career in celebrity was going successfully well her life was a mess. She had a troubled past, and still when she started her career as an actress though she was such a talented actress she was troubled. She wasn't interested in making money
8 yet she was vulnerable and lonely, and she did not have any female friends to tell her when to put it away. After she had her debut until fi ve or six years it was going fine that she was an ambitious girl, but then it went out of control because it got so big that she became too popular and famous internationally. However, her distinguished accomplishment in fashion can not be hyper criticized. Not only the dress mentioned above, she had her pink satin gown that worn in Diamonds Are Girl's Best Friend, and the skintight sequined dress that she wore to sing Happy Birthday to You for John F. Kennedy as seen in the fi gure 7. By showing her great tastes in fashion she changed the millions of women's fashion.
figure 7: Marilyn Monroe's dress for John F. Kennedy's birthday In the past, the celebrities on the screen was everything and people looked up the stars on screen look but as the time goes by people now see more often at the star's off screen look. Those people who made the clothes became as famous as the fi lm stars. This doesn't mean that the relationship between fashion designers and fi lm stars became weaker but it means that the fashion designer as function of star became stronger. The designers and models became their brand face. Many designers such as Gabrielle Coco
9 Chanel, Donatella Versace, Karl Lagerfeld, Valentino, and Alexander McQueen became the famous fashion designers who identify their brand and became the icon. There are many other famous designers but out of them, Gabrielle Coco Chanel is the pioneer. She is the founder of the fashion brand Chanel, and she was the only fashion designer who featured in Time magazine's list of the 100 most infl uential people of the 20 th century. As soon as she established her brand, she herself became the fashion leader. In 1925 she was spotted in her garment which revealed her suntanned back and arms but she did not tan her skin on purpose. It is referred to sexy or healthy nowadays, but in that period suntanned skin was the sign of poverty. However by the style icon Coco Chanel appearing in tanned skin, it became fashionable. A sun tan became a must have look to look fashionable and hats became fashion item when it was only used as a protective clothing. In late of 1900s sun tan products started to manufacturing such as in fi gure 8 and bronze skin colour became the sign of wealthy because getting tanned means that they are enough wealthy to go on a holiday to another countries.
figure 8: sun tan advertisement in 1900s
10 She herself was a revolution. She freed women from tight corsets, and made a new women's high fashion which was pants and she added a strap to a bag so the women's can carry their bag hanging on their shoulder. Coco Chanel claimed that some people think luxury is the opposite of poverty. It is not. It is the opposite of vulgarity. Though she freed women from corsets, She emphasized luxurious in her design and her look. As for herself, she had her significant look which was the short and wavy black hair, multiple layered pearl necklaces, and her Chanel looks always remained in her style such as in figure 9.
figure 9: the young and old Gabrielle Coco Chanel
She herself became her brand. As well as her insist in using perfume was part of the reason. Chanel (www.goodreads.com , 2012) quoted that women who don't wear perfume have no future. Until now, Chanel no.5 is one of the most wanted perfume, and the image of Chanel is luxurious, and femininity. Many women's dream is to have the Chanel look especially the tweed jacket in the fi gure 10 which became a huge trend in 1950s when Chanel had her return into the fashion world. Up until now, Chanel tweed jacket is women's wanted look and it's one of the design that represents the brand.
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figure 10: Coco Chanel in her tweed jacket
The three representative examples of fashion icon mentioned above have something in common. First is that they have their own signifi cant look. Joan Crawford's significant look was to live as the actress Joan Crawford all the time therefore she always dressed up as if she just came out from a film, and Marilyn Monroe had her particular way of make up and dress up which was appealing her sexuality and revealing parts of her body. Lastly Gabrielle Coco Chanel was in her Chanel look with her cigarette, multi layered pearl necklace, and her perfume Chanel no.5. What made them memorable until now is that they had something that represented themselves. Their lifestyle were not easy but it was such perilous journeys, and the lives they had were not what normally people go through. Becoming an icon is to have what people don't usually have or what people hardly have that studios and agencies craft their celebrities' images, and by using the media influences they sell it the onlookers. Celebrity means a person appear in media, and who implied with great popular appeal and great in particular fi led and is recognized in public. Basically they are the people who by just hearing the name we already know what kind of person is, what the person did, and the person's life story. That's the people who we normally admire, desire to be, and desire to meet one day. the method where we get to
12 see or hear about the celebrities is the media. Consequentially, as in the fi gure 11 celebrity and agent as one, they signify the media and media is signifi ed and as a function of bridge between celebrity, and audiences they signify onlookers. The interaction happens between the three. When onlookers get the information from the media, they immediately feel as if they really know the celebrity and they met them in person when they actually have never met them but only heard of or have seen on the television. Then they talk about the celebrity and give tons of feedback on them.
figure 11: a chart made according to the research that shows the process of the personification and how fashion icon is made
Based on the information that they have on the celebrity, onlookers judge the celebrity, and they chose who to admire who to neglect. The process of making a fashion icon is conducted this way too. They give impact to each others. The three methods that are celebrity, media, and onlookers are equally important therefore to they should be balanced. If there was no audiences Marilyn Monroe wouldn't have been remembered until now, and if there was no media Coco Chanel could have been forgotten and if there was no celebrity there wouldn't be the actress Joan Crawford.
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