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Show s HERAL DAILY Wednesday, May 30, 2007 n m nninr W H W 1 1JLUD JL M B3 H' l ins BEAUTY, HOME AND FASHION AT YOUR FINGERTIPS MEL MELCON fi Los Angeles Times "A Fat Rant" creator7oy Nash says her video is "about convincing fat women that they're good " enough. X "11. ;.' ' : ... . Rant carries weight on YouTube P1 David Sarno Almost 700,000 online MATT Press SAYLESAssociated appears on the piJoiv, foreground, among "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" merchandise displayed in of pirate Beverly Hills, Calif. With the third chapter of the blockbuster film franchise hitting theaters last weekend, Disney has unveiled a boatload " products from couture fashions to costume jewelry, plus toys, shoes, electronics, furniture and even "healthy pirate snacks for energy. The likeness of actor Johnny Depp PUMP OF PIRATE PRODUCTS POP-CULTU- RE headscarves and jangling jewels, have been Sandy Cohen ASSOCIATED PRFSS was once the stuff of bikers and rebels. It danger. Poison. Trouble ahead. Now the design likely means "Pirates of the and a boatload of related merchandise. With its third chapter of the blockbuster film franchise set to hit theaters May 25, Disney is unveiling pirate products from couture fashions to costume jewelry, plus toys, shoes, electronics, furniture and even "healthy pirate snacks for energy." Pirates have invaded pop culture. "I think much of it can be attributed to this . franchise really starting that whole trend again and making it so hot," said Vince Klaseus, senior vice president of global marketing for Disney Consumer Products. "Now you see first graders wearing it. Bikers are probably all (angry) about that." ? Three-tim- e star Orlando Bloom noticed pirate style surface after the first film opened in 2003. "That was what was phenomenal, when fashion started going like pirate-- and people were and hats and gear that had that wearing It popu- lar for decades. "Designers took the lead," said New York based marketing consultant Ryan Schinman, pointing to couturiers such as Alexander McQueen. "And Disney did a great job exploiting it." The studio's films have had an impact on pirate style, Schinman noted, making the symbol "a little lighter, a little magical and a lot more humorous than it used to be." '"Pirates' is not responsible at all for making it cool," he said. "What it's done is skewed the skull and crossbones younger." Johnny Depp's pirate character. Captain Jack Sparrow, is someone kids can relate to, said toy consultant Chris Byrne: "He's on the inept and silly side. He's bad, but he's not all bad." Pirate-trappings, particularly the symbol, have been adopted by various groups since pirates disappeared in the 18th century, said historian Kevin Jones of the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising. Back when tattoos were taboo, the skull and crossbones was a common, appropriately antisocial motif, he said. Bikers in the 1960s and 70s sported the symbol to identify themselves as feel," he said. "It really hit Heavy metal bands did the same me on the first movie. But now because it's been thing in the 1980s, also adding scarves, rings and out there for so long, it just seems normal, which earrings. Skateboarders followed, then the Goths. is really weird." As the design became more "Pirates" films can't take The popular, it lost its edge. "I saw a all the credit, though. The Hello Kitty,!' Jones said. "When you see that, you know it has symbol and other seaworthy styles, such as y y super-successf- been totally divested of any of its toxic power. It's simply become a fun, kitsch symbol." Professor Leo Braudy. a cultural historian at the University of Southern California, said pirates disappeared so long ago that they've become romanticized. "There's always that kind of nostalgia for those rebels of the past because they're safe," he said. He noted that "Pirates of the Caribbean" isn't the first film to anchor itself in pop culture. Everyone wanted to wear leather jackets and engineer boots after Marlon Brando sported them in the 1953 film "The Wild One." Same with white and blue jeans after 1955's "Rebel Without a Cause." And who can forget the torn sweat shirts and leg warmers popularized by the 1983 film "Flashdance"? When a movie is accompanied by a bounty of products, its cultural influence is more widespread, he said. "It's partially people's identification with it. but it's also the merchandising." Braudy said, adding that when he wanted to get boots like Brando's, he had to go to an actual motorcycle shop, not "some specialty store that the studios set up (for people) to buy this." The skull and crossbones may no longer be tough, but that just makes it more popular. "It's very trenSy right now. and a lot of people are wearing them who maybe wouldn't have before," said Disney brand director Heather Oster. "It has a bit of that rock 'n' roll feel, so you can kind of be bad but not too bad, and all in a fun way." viewers have watched "A Fat Rant," a YouTube sermon that dares fat women to stop obsessing about how they could look and start feeling good alxuit the way they are. And if you're one of them, you will understand the bra- . appeal of zenly "A Fat Rant's" creator, Joy Nash, talking to the camera, tooling around in her convertible and walking through a rose garden. Other performers may try to reform America's attitude toward fat, but Nash wants to reform fat people's attitude toward themselves. "We need, to expand our souls." she says, "and I think there are a whole lot of fat people out there who can use a whole lot more putting Stop life on hold." Off camera and sitting down for lunch at the Eat Well diner in this city's trendy Silver Lake district, Nash or- ders a turkey club sandwich and green salad. She will tell you that she first wrote "A Fat Rant" as a monologue for a drama class at the University of Southern California, and that, although she's performed it live a few times; "if it wasn't for YouTube, hardly anyone would've seen it." Stylish in her Target jacket and her Pepe jeans from Marshalls. Nash succeeds on the merits of the persona she has developed. Doctors have called her "moderately obese," but at 224 pounds and 8, she will tell you that she is fat but ccfuldn't care less. Which is entirely the point of "A Fat Rant."' "If you ask the fashion industry. I barely deserved to be allowed to wear clothing. And I'm definitely, definitely fatter than the girl who should not be wearing that," she pronounces to the camera in a droll parody. Since "A Fat Rant" first hit the Web, it has touched a nerve. It was one of the most videos on YouTube replied-tlast month. What makes Tt stand out in the YouTube ' crowd is the outpouring of emotion it has generated from viewers. Nash has received 20 of more than 2,500 which were marriage proposals. At 26. Nash has a day job as a personal organizer. She may have ambitions for television, but, for now, it's the video that has given her a platform to voice her indignation toward America - and her exhortation toward the fat of the world. "Don't buy any more clothing in sizes that are too small - clothing that will 'motivate " you to get slimmer,' she chides in the video. "And throw out the stuff that doesn't fit anymore. It's just " taking up space and .... Nash continues on, colorfully, but you'll have to go to YouTube o Befriending trends for the S, California look Leslie Earnest IOS ANGELES streets of TIMES L.A.. constantly." she said. The much larger New York-baseDoneger Group opened an office in October 2005 at the California Market Center, where its competitors also are housed. Now it's expanding. "There's a West Coast lifestyle that's very significant in terms of trends," President Abbey Doneger said. "It's important for us to be here." As West Coast director, he hired Janine Blain, a former Directives West employee who was born in Glendale, which borders Los Angeles. "Abbey didn't care about my resume," Blain said. "He cared about my d Paris, Milan and New York have their runways, but for "casual chic," Southern California is ground zero. National retailers want the look and have come to depend on local cognoscenti to advise them. What's hot here and will it sell in Boise or Birmingham or Boston? Retailers turn to consulting companies such as Directives West, Barbara Fields Buying Office and Group for the answer. What these companies do "is beyond the runway," said Ilse Metchek, executive director of the California Fashion Association. "It's how the business Do-neg-er a mil i ' ,; birth certificate - to make sure I was really from California and understand the California lifestyle." works." The attention the local retail consultThere was evidence in April, when hundreds of retail buyers packed the ing companies help generate can create L.A. Over Easy fashion show. Saidy work for local manufacturers. "It creates a reason for buyers to Richman, whose Directives West SPENCER WEINERLos Angeles Times come to California and produced the event, took the stage shop the marAn ebullient Sandy Richman hosts a fashion show at the California Market ket and see what's new, and it creates and introduced Paris Hilton, who was Center in Los Angeles. Her company, Directives West, works with retailers to a buzz," said Lonnie Kane, president launching a clothing line. Hilton was of Karen Kane Inc. in Los Angeles, a capitalize on fashion trends. nicely received, but it was clear once women's sportswear maker. the program was over that Richman was the show's star. If, for example, Directives West likes said. Paris Hilton." a manufacturer'.- -, baby doll dress, it "You look faaabulous," a buyer If Richman knows anything, it's Or Barbara Fields, who has spent 28 might appear in the firm's weekly "bulgushed as Richman walked to her ofwhat looks good. The fashionista is a fice at the California Market Center years tracking trends for teenage girls letin" to clients. Such exposure can be and young women. She sends her trend particularly helpful to start-uafter the program, wearing a gold lace petite powerhouse, tunneling tips to compaMacy's, Neiman Marcus, J.Q Penney, spotters to high schools, clubs and con- nies and emerging brands. tulip shirt, gold wedge shoes, a ruffled "You need all the PR and hype you top with a deep scoop neck and a braid- Abercrombie & Fitch and other clients. certs to monitor what youth is wearing. If the paparazzi are perched in front of can get," Kane said. "And having ed gold belt that, she pointed out, really Metchek calls her the West Coast gatea hot store or restaurant, "we're there was gold. keeper. Sandy like your products or tell buyers d "These stores would be as well," she said. "You look magnificent. You look you need to look at this line ... can liter"We have people that's all they do is to find their way around this market ally make a company turn a corner, spectacular," another admirer effused. Then, the trump: "You look better than without someone like Sandy," Metchek cover things that are happening on the from obscurity to being hot." p hard-presse- 1 or latimes.comfatrant to hear it. Heavier women just don't like to shop as much as their skinny counterparts, she contends. So they spend less money and, as a result, the clothing industry tends to overlook them. The video is "about con- vincing fat women that they're good enough, right now, to look good, right now," she says. That way, once they start buying more clothes, they'll have more to choose from. |