Badgley Mischka is romancing the Stone for fall.
In what appears to be a sharp departure, the design duo of Mark Badgley and James Mischka has tapped Sharon Stone to be the face of the brand for fall, replacing 20-year-olds Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, who starred in their spring ads.
"She always epitomized old-school glamour and is a constant source of inspiration," Badgley said of the duo's choice of Stone. "She personifies what we always stood for with our collection."
Old-school Hollywood glamour has been a recurring theme for the designers, so Stone, 48, who is also the face of Dior skin care, fit the bill. The actress, best known for her roles in "Basic Instinct" and "Casino," is starring in the upcoming "Bobby," which is centered around the 1968 assassination of Robert F. Kennedy.
Badgley and Mischka met Stone about 10 years ago, when they traveled to Los Angeles for a trunk show and made a house call to personally show her the collection. "I've known Mark and James for many years, ever since they brought their gorgeous gowns to my house and spread them all over my living room," Stone said in a statement. "Since then, I've always thought wearing their dress is like going to a great party — they're fun, elegant and intricately detailed."
Stone is a generation older than Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, who were photographed for the ads when they were 19. When the Olsen ads broke, many fashion insiders wondered whether the label's core customers really would identify with the teenage stars. Badgley and Mischka downplayed the notion the Olsens were an ill fit. In fact, they said the choice brought the brand out of the specialty store salon and into the mainstream, thanks to the twins' coverage in supermarket tabloids.
"It was hugely successful in expanding the awareness of the brand," Mischka said. "We didn't have the Olsens because they were so young. To us, they were iconic fashion people…fashion divas. This is the same case.Dari Marder, creative director for the Iconix Brand Group, Badgley Mischka's parent company, added that tapping Stone was an intentional move.
"The launch campaign with the Olsens was a huge success for us in garnering more attention for the brand and increasing brand awareness, but we didn't want anyone to think that this was a whole new brand only for the younger women," Marder said. "We wanted people to understand that Badgley Mischka is truly about a state of mind. You could be 18 or 48. It's a brand for anyone who wants to feel glamorous and beautiful. It's less about the age, but people sometimes take it quite literally, so we wanted to intentionally show that it's for every woman."
Iconix's in-house marketing team created the campaign, which Gilles Bensimon shot at Dorothy Chandler's former, art-filled estate in Los Angeles' Hancock Park. Stone is featured in six looks from the duo's Couture Collection, including a black shirred gown, a black and amethyst ribbon gown and a crinkled organza and velvet tango dress.
The ads will launch in October magazines such as Vogue, Elle and In Style.
As part of the collaboration, Badgley Mischka has pledged to donate $100,000 to Planet Hope, which Stone founded with her sister, Kelly. It is an organization to help homeless and abused children and their families with counseling and medical help.
Asked for their favorite image in the campaign, the designers pointed to one of Stone in front of an opulent mirror.
"She looks like a siren," Mischka said.
"Gorgeous, strong and modern," Badgley intercepted. "It harks back a little bit to Old Hollywood, which is what we stand for."
