---OH NO...not again...ummm...
By Barbara Barker
MADRID — Penélope Cruz and her younger, look-alike sister, Monica, will design a 25-piece collection, including accessories, for the Spanish chain Mango. They also will be the new faces of the retailer's fall-winter 2007 advertising campaign.
The ad shoot by Spanish photographer Nico Bustos is scheduled for next month in what the company described on Tuesday as an "international" location. The line to be designed by the Cruz sisters will be larger than the one Jovovich-Hawk — the label founded by model and actress Milla Jovovich and Carmen Hawk — did for spring-summer, but there were no other details.
This is the movie star's first shot at designing clothes and she joins a celebrity lineup that includes Madonna, who did a collection for Hennes & Mauritz, and Kate Moss, who did a label for Topshop.
Cruz and her sister, a dancer and TV actress on a "Fame"-like series called "Un Paso Adelante," already design a collection of jewelry and handbags for the Japanese retail chain Samantha Thavasa.
The handbag line, called Samantha Thavasa by Penélope and Monica Cruz, is also sold in the Madrid-born actress' own store, Amarcord, a 1,000-square-foot location in Madrid's tony Salamanca area.
"I select every item, color and size myself,'' Penélope Cruz has said. "It's a reflection of my taste and what I wear." There is a mix of casual fashion, a few party dresses and accessories "at decent prices," she pointed out. The store's star brands are Theory and the French brand Maje — and Cruz has said she loves both.
Her designer preferences include Dior, Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana and Ralph Lauren.
Revenues for Mango, based in Barcelona, climbed 9.8 percent last year, to 1.26 billion euros, or $1.65 billion. The company operates 995 stores in 89 countries. A total of 160 store openings are on tap by yearend.
Mango is expanding in the U.S. and plans to roll out 250 stores in the next decade.
The retailer is set to open its 79th store in France next month. The 15,070-square-foot space is on Boulevard Haussmann, between Galeries Lafayette and Le Prin­temps in Paris. France generates 8 percent of total sales.
via WWD
