If designers are trying to market fashion to Generation Y, that demographic born between 1980 and 1988, what they need to understand is this new audience does not separate the idea of actors, rappers, singers, and models as separate entities. They are all entertainers in their eyes, all the same thing. They are People who are Photographed and people who are photographed are all variations of the same species: Stars. This is a generation that has never been aware of an era before The Supermodel Period. Model worship has become the teenaged rite of passage that guides a girl from Barbie Dolls to Cover Girl , from Tommy Girl to Prada.

Ralph Lauren knows this, which is why he quickly snapped up the hottest cover girl of the moment, Gisele, to represent his fashion kingdom. And so powerful was the Gisele juggernaut that even he could not insist on that contract being exclusive.
Karl Lagerfeld when he snapped up Asian superstar, Devon knows that the value of a model is she is the blank screen that he can turn into a walking fashion logo. Foxxy Brown, she can only lend you her image for a season to move a few million pairs of jeans but she is her own logo, her own image, and her own corporation. And you can bet she doesn't run cheap.

Celebrities replacing models? Its never been an either/ or kind of thing because in the post-Cindy, post-Naomi, post-Kate universe, models ARE celebrities. And the ever shrewd Calvin, much as he is saying "this is not a great model moment" for political reasons, if you open this month's W, past the cover picture of Bridget Hall, features a fold-out Calvin Klein Collection ad with a burnished English beauty named Lisa Ratcliff. And Lisa rest assured, is quite the model.

Are celebrities in fashion magazines and fashion layouts more interesting to you than models ? Post your vote in MODELS.com's poll.

Voice your views in the User Forums