Designers are Immortalizing Celebrities Through Fashion

At the intersection of pop culture and fashion, designers place celebrity portraits on clothes.

For designers like Gucci's Alessandro Michele and Off-White's Virgil Abloh, celebrities are often muses, and sometimes even appear on the fashion itself through illustrated pictures or photographs. While these ensembles take a page from band tees and concert merch, fashion labels are likewise capitalizing on celebrity portraits. Beyond the runways, celebrity motifs have taken hold of graphics-clad streetwear for quite some time, appearing on T-shirts and tote bags. By adopting the image of famous faces, brands show how their own values coincide with those of the celebrity, while also underscoring the cultural clout of such figures. From Princess Diana to Kate Moss, see what celebrities have been immortalized on designer merch.

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For Spring/Summer 2020, Coach 1941 unveiled a collaboration with artist Richard Bernstein, picturing the visage of Barbra Streisand on sweatshirts, tees, and tanks. Celebrities including Mila Kunis, Selma Blair, and Coach ambassador Jennifer Lopez were subsequently seen sporting the pieces in their off-duty style.

For Fall/Winter 2019, Raf Simons took inspiration from the cinematic universe of director David Lynch, printing appliquéd images of Laura Dern in “Blue Velvet” and stills from “Twin Peaks” on sweaters and tees.

Country icon Dolly Parton was the inspiration for this Gucci Spring/Summer 2019 pop art sweatshirt. The collection also featured a sleeveless denim jacket with her likeness.

For Off-White’s Spring/Summer 2018 collection, Virgil Abloh merged royal iconography with streetwear. In the Princess Diana-inspired collection, the designer reinterpreted the late princess’ best looks and offered a few graphic tees as tribute.

Saint Laurent’s Rive Droite outpost offered a T-shirt emblazoned with the face of YSL muse Zoë Kravitz.

Now shuttered, Calvin Klein 205W39NYC and Creative Director Raf Simons released a line of printed shirts and outerwear in homage to legendary designer and artist Stephen Sprouse.

This Vetements graphic tee garnered controversy after Snoop Dogg disapproved of the $924 price point.

For “Playboy” magazine’s 60th anniversary, Marc Jacobs unveiled a commemorative T-shirt for the occasion, featuring Kate Moss’ cover image for the publication.

Designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac is known for his quirky, campy creations. Andy Warhol was a longtime influence of the now-retired designer. In the ‘80s, he sent a model down the runway wearing a Campbell’s soup can-inspired dress as a nod to the pop artist, and for Fall/Winter 2009, he presented a dress featuring Warhol’s face, complete with his white choppy hair.