Sarah Hyland, 25, is an actress and she attended the Professional Performing Arts School in Manhattan. Her training at school likely included dancing, singing and acting. That’s why it’s curious that the clothing line Candie’s has named her creative director. She’s not being named a celebrity spokesperson, she’ll be a creative director despite what seems to be little to no experience in fashion. This is actually a common practice though, Kaiser reminded me that Sarah Jessica Parker was named chief creative director at Halston and that Lindsay Lohan was an artistic director at Ungaro. (That predictably failed.) Here’s the announcement:
As creative director, the Modern Family actress, 25, will use her love of the arts to set the mood for Candie’s Fall 2016 and Spring 2017 global campaigns. She’ll also style the looks in the Kohl’s-exclusive label’s back-to-school campaign.
“I grew up looking at Candie’s ads and hearing my friends’ experiences as Candie’s girls, but the added influence of being named the first creative director is really exciting for me,” Hyland said in a statement. “I love fashion; it’s a part of who I am.”
The actress, who can next be seen in ABC’s musical remake of Dirty Dancing, added, “I love that I get to have influence on this line because not only are the clothes really fashion-forward, but they are offered at an affordable price point, which means fans of mine can afford what we’re selling.”
I used to work in the internet industry and if I put my time in at a firm and was told that a busy young actress with no experience was coming in as creative director I doubt I’d be happy about it. This is just a figurehead appointment to get publicity for Candies though and Hyland will surely work hard at it. She does have cute fashion sense and she appeals to their target demographic for sure.
Hyland is currently working on the Dirty Dancing TV movie where she plays Lisa Houseman, Baby’s sister. That’s likely why she dyed her hair dark. She recently Instagrammed this photo in character.
photos credit: FameFlynet
Three words: Jessica Simpson. Billions.
Honestly, this isn’t Chanel, in any case.
I have worked in fashion for some key brands and no one thinks she’s cutting fabric — this is probably part PR and part (wisely) hiring a generational rep to vision the pieces like a live focus group. She has cute style and seems smart, she can make it work. I’ve seen others with no experience in fashion do quite well if they had drive and curiosity.
And historically, from Lilly Pulitzer in the 60s to business execs who can’t sew or do creative (Tommy, Ralph, Zac), things can happen. Victoria Beckham eh? It will be interesting to watch.
The old “brand ambassador” job with a different title.
Exactly. She probably won’t actually do anything besides a few print ads and show up for publicity events.
I like Sarah though, she definitely seems to have an interest in fashion so she’s probably excited to do this.
Nailed it. It’s not like she’s taking a job away from someone else. They just created a title for her and will get her to be a spokesperson. The actual talent will still be doing all the working behind-the-scenes. Meh.
Eh, it’ll be ok! There are a lot of people in the real world who studied one thing end up working in fields that they totally do not seem to qualify for. For example…graduating with a BS in History, but working in PR? Or getting a BFA in Arts and working in Marketing Research? Whether she’s busy or not, I say give her a shot.
Is that the Candies who used to make what we called f me pumps?
I don’t know about that but in the 70s they made chunky wooden heels and platforms. It sounded like the whole building was coming down in the hallways of every high school.
Yeah, the fact that she said she’s the “first creative director” makes me feel like it’s not much more than a fluffed up title.
Candies is still around?
So basically, she might ‘curate’ a few collections, do some promotional photos/ads, do some interviews and that kind of thing. I don’t see anything wrong with this, really. She seems like a likable girl, and she’s not an idiot or anything. I like that she is interested in dipping into other avenues – never hurts to have some extra experience in other fields when you’re in her industry. You never know when the job offers are going to dry up.
I really love her dark hair. I actually think its much more flattering on her than the blonde.
I was just coming to say that hair is atrocious on her and speculate why they didn’t just have her wear a wig, but your post made me look again, and I think the issue is that she needs a warmer brunette to compliment her skin tone. This is too ashy.
She will get to sit in a few meetings and say if she thinks something is cute or needs more glitter etc. She’s the right demographic for their line and Into fashion. Should work. It’s all just publicity for the line.
Ugh, as someone who is married to an actual creative director at an agency, this annoys me. It took years of education and experience in design, marketing, copywriting, business and management for him to get to his level and he’s very good at what he does because of it.
Call her a brand ambassador, please. I like her, but she is NOT a creative director by definition, no matter how cute she is or what kind of fashion sense she has. Saying, “I like blue and chunky heels and I promise I’ll post about it on social media” does not a creative director make.
Sorry if I sound grouchy, but this sort of thing downplays the hard work it takes in the real world to get that job title.
Her face is perfection.