Lohan's and Archs's debut for Ungaro fails to impress

(Relaxnews) -

The label's publicity-hungry decision to hire Hollywood it-girl Lindsay Lohan as "creative advisor," didn't turn into the disaster many expected (and maybe secretly hoped for), but criticism remained harsh.

While acknowledging that Lohan and Spanish designer Estrella Archs, the other half of the duo behind the collection shown October 4, just had around a month to come up with the clothes, many agreed that they were "dated" and "cheesy" and suggested it was time to "revive [Lohan's] acting career."

Nicole Phelps from style.com wrote that the presentation "quickly devolved into a bad joke of a fashion show, one with questionable color combinations, "bad eighties" draped silk jackets and drop-crotch pants, old-fashioned and ill-judged fur stoles, and, yes, tasteless sequin pasties," adding that the "fabrics and the construction lacked the finesse you expect from a famous Avenue Montaigne brand."

Meanwhile, Women's Wear Daily compared fashion design to brain surgery: "[...] People work for years to develop proficiency - it has its rare geniuses and capable practitioners, all of whom must possess talent, skill and dedication. Being a young, pretty, controversial woman who looks good in clothes and photo ops just isn't enough."

And The Telegraph wrote: "The best that can be said is that they tried."

In any case, Ungaro's CEO Mounir Moufarrige -- whose decision to hire Stella McCartney for Chloé in the 1990s was also controversial at first but then proved visionary -- seems to be a man of bold moves and will have the fashion crowd talking for a while. His commentary on the 'Lohan situation' before the show: "[...] Having a moving, dancing, swinging, living doll is, we hope, going to bring down the age group at Ungaro while keeping the DNA."

It is safe to say that attention for Ungaro (and cameras at the show) doubled because of the PR stint, but even Lohan herself didn't seem too convinced of her creations -- according to front rowers (such as the L.A. Times), she had tears in her eyes when she took her bow.

Other highlights of Paris Fashion Week so far included a pregnant Roisin Murphy performing at the Viktor & Rolf show, Naomi Campbell strutting her stuff at Chapurin, Yohji Yamamoto watching the show of his daughter Limi Feu, a collection made of paper at Maison Martin Margiela, and Gareth Pugh and Rick Owens paying tribute by visiting each other's shows.