The top 10 strangest celebrity creative directors
Gone are the days when celebrities and designers were just, well, celebrities and designers. Now with every celebrity endorsement comes with a prestigious title—one that we’re used to being associated with helming a major fashion house—the creative director.
While we can’t be too certain what part of the process these celebrity endorsements play other than lending their face or fame to the product, it has become increasingly common for musicians, actors, and designers to add a creative director title to their CVs (aka their Wikipedia pages). With the recent news of Alicia Keys becoming the Global Creative Director of Blackberry, and today’s announcement of Marc Jacobs as the newest creative director of Diet Coke—succeeding Jean Paul Gaultier—we’ve decided to take a look back at some of the weirdest and flat out funniest creative directors to date.
See our list of top 10 strange celebrity creative directors »
Justin Timberlake, MySpace
Justin Timberlake is not the creative director of one company, but two. The singer/actor has been attempting to bring sexy back to the golf course since 2011, when it was announced that he would become the creative director of the golf company Callaway. Timberlake played a role in the company’s marketing campaign and said he wanted to give the sport a “nice injection of kickassery,” whatever that means.
And when he’s not spending his time on the links, he’s likely wearing a suit and tie to his other job as the creative director of MySpace, where he also owns a portion of the company. Timberlake believes that the formerly popular social media platform can make a comeback; he works on developing MySpace’s creative strategy and direction. We won’t hold our breath for MySpace’s revival, but we will wait until the end of time for an *N Sync reunion.
Ricardo Tisci, the Watch the Throne tour
It’s pretty well known that Kanye West is a fan of Riccardo Tisci’s work for Givenchy, but did you know that Tisci was the art director for the Watch The Throne tour? Not only did he design the album artwork, which was all gold and super intricate (basically making the CD a collector’s piece), but he also created some custom outfits for Kanye and Jay-Z while they toured promoting the album. Kanye wore a pleated leather Givenchy skirt multiple times on tour (which came with a lot of criticism) and both rappers had custom t-shirts made. This is a collaboration where it is easy to see what role Tisci played—how many other designers could convince Kanye that a leather skirt over leather pants is a must-have look?
Kanye West, The Jetsons
While on the subject of Kanye West, there’s another thing the rapper has become known for other than taking fashion risks, and that would be his Twitter rants. He often subjects his nine million followers to zany one-word tweets, and back in January of 2012, he tweeted, “I was just discussing becoming the creative director for The Jetsons movie”—which, by the way, was completely false (and the tweet has since been deleted, obviously). The producer of the film told Vulture that there is no such thing as a creative director job on a movie, and that there is no Jetsons movie as of right now. Add that to the lol-worthy list of Sh*t Kanye Tweets!
Lady Gaga, Polaroid
Lady Gaga wanted to turn the camera lens around when she became the creative director of Polaroid in 2010. The mega-hit singer “helped” design a wearable camera that looks exactly like a pair of sunglasses. They are very Alexander McQueen fall 2012 in their oversized intergalactic design, but are capable of taking photos and are meant to enable real-time photo sharing. Pretty impressive, but we can’t say we’ve ever seen these glasses…well, anywhere. You’d think that having the “Fame Monster” as a part of your company would bring it back to its glory days a la the 1990s, but we haven’t exactly taken any more notice of Polaroid since Gaga hopped aboard.
Victoria Beckham, Range Rover
It’s no secret that Victoria and David Beckham are fans of Range Rovers (check out Mr. Beckham’s newest H&M ad for even more proof) so it makes sense that Posh Spice was given the title of creative director for Land Rover, right? Victoria designed her very own custom Land Rover that was unveiled in April of 2012 (and which would only set you back around $100,000). Posh designed the car with her needs and David’s in mind, and stuck with a dark motif except for rose gold accents. There are only 200 versions of this car in the world, making it a pretty posh thing to own. Oh, and no big deal or anything, but the owner’s manual is signed by Posh Spice herself.
Reed Krakoff, Coach and Reed Krakoff
Reed Krakoff created his namesake label in 2010, but he has had the role of creative director of Coach since 1996. Now this may not be the oddest of pairings, however considering how stark a difference of the aesthetics in both labels, we included him in this list. He took the American leather goods brand and turned it into a global success before embarking on his own design career. It was a controversial decision back in ’96 to give Krakoff the title of creative director, but his success at Coach has led him to the role as the president of the company as well as the creative director. His namesake label has most recently been worn by Michelle Obama during the inauguration weekend, which just adds to his list of success.
Jessica Alba, Windows Phone
We find it kind of hard to believe that Jessica Alba uses a Windows Phone as opposed to an iPhone, but who are we to say? In October 2012, Alba appeared at the launch of the Windows Phone and told everyone she had given up her iPhone and replaced it with a Microsoft smartphone.
Will.I.Am, Intel
Will.I.Am is no creative director, oh no. He is Intel’s director of creative innovation. (Huge difference, you guys.) In January 2011 it was announced that the Black Eyed Peas singer/frontman would be joining the Intel team to make monthly trips to the office, and go on a world tour to promote Intel’s Ultrabook which kicked off in January of 2012. In a recent issue of Fortune, Will.I.Am confessed that music is no longer at the top of his priority list, but his work with Intel as the director of creative innovation is.
Alicia Keys, Blackberry
The Blackberry launch of the Z10 was a big event for the Canadian company formerly known as RIM that came with a little surprise at the launch last week: Alicia Keys was named the Global Creative Director of the brand in hopes of bringing Blackberry’s popularity back. While there is no information about what Keys will be doing exactly for the brand, we speculate that she will be used in commercials and have our fingers crossed for a remix of her hit “Fallin’” that’s about “Callin.’” (GET IT?)
Marc Jacobs, Diet Coke
We didn’t need another reason to look at Marc Jacobs topless (remember the Bang ads?), but Diet Coke gave us one yesterday—and we’ll take it. Jacobs has been named the creative director and face of Diet Coke just in time for the soda’s 30 year anniversary in Europe. Past designers that have been the creative director of Diet Coke include Jean Paul Gaultier and Karl Lagerfeld. Marc Jacobs told WWD, “I still think it’s hysterical people want me to take my shirt off. You know, I’m going to be 50 in two months, so I guess I should be glad.” Well, we won’t lie: we’re glad, too. The bottles and official ad campaign have yet to be released, but this little taste of what’s to come will tide us over in the meantime.
. With the recent news of Alicia Keys becoming the Global Creative Director of Blackberry, and today’s announcement of Marc Jacobs as the newest creative director of Diet Coke—succeeding Jean Paul Gaultier—we’ve decided to take a look back at some of the weirdest and flat out funniest creative directors to date.
See our list of top 10 strange celebrity creative directors »
Justin Timberlake, MySpace
Justin Timberlake is not the creative director of one company, but two. The singer/actor has been attempting to bring sexy back to the golf course since 2011, when it was announced that he would become the creative director of the golf company Callaway. Timberlake played a role in the company’s marketing campaign and said he wanted to give the sport a “nice injection of kickassery,” whatever that means.
And when he’s not spending his time on the links, he’s likely wearing a suit and tie to his other job as the creative director of MySpace, where he also owns a portion of the company. Timberlake believes that the formerly popular social media platform can make a comeback; he works on developing MySpace’s creative strategy and direction. We won’t hold our breath for MySpace’s revival, but we will wait until the end of time for an *N Sync reunion.
Ricardo Tisci, the Watch the Throne tour
It’s pretty well known that Kanye West is a fan of Riccardo Tisci’s work for Givenchy, but did you know that Tisci was the art director for the Watch The Throne tour? Not only did he design the album artwork, which was all gold and super intricate (basically making the CD a collector’s piece), but he also created some custom outfits for Kanye and Jay-Z while they toured promoting the album. Kanye wore a pleated leather Givenchy skirt multiple times on tour (which came with a lot of criticism) and both rappers had custom t-shirts made. This is a collaboration where it is easy to see what role Tisci played—how many other designers could convince Kanye that a leather skirt over leather pants is a must-have look?
Kanye West, The Jetsons
While on the subject of Kanye West, there’s another thing the rapper has become known for other than taking fashion risks, and that would be his Twitter rants. He often subjects his nine million followers to zany one-word tweets, and back in January of 2012, he tweeted, “I was just discussing becoming the creative director for The Jetsons movie”—which, by the way, was completely false (and the tweet has since been deleted, obviously). The producer of the film told Vulture that there is no such thing as a creative director job on a movie, and that there is no Jetsons movie as of right now. Add that to the lol-worthy list of Sh*t Kanye Tweets!
Lady Gaga, Polaroid
Lady Gaga wanted to turn the camera lens around when she became the creative director of Polaroid in 2010. The mega-hit singer “helped” design a wearable camera that looks exactly like a pair of sunglasses. They are very Alexander McQueen fall 2012 in their oversized intergalactic design, but are capable of taking photos and are meant to enable real-time photo sharing. Pretty impressive, but we can’t say we’ve ever seen these glasses...well, anywhere. You’d think that having the “Fame Monster” as a part of your company would bring it back to its glory days a la the 1990s, but we haven’t exactly taken any more notice of Polaroid since Gaga hopped aboard.
Victoria Beckham, Range Rover
It’s no secret that Victoria and David Beckham are fans of Range Rovers (check out Mr. Beckham’s newest H&M ad for even more proof) so it makes sense that Posh Spice was given the title of creative director for Land Rover, right? Victoria designed her very own custom Land Rover that was unveiled in April of 2012 (and which would only set you back around $100,000). Posh designed the car with her needs and David’s in mind, and stuck with a dark motif except for rose gold accents. There are only 200 versions of this car in the world, making it a pretty posh thing to own. Oh, and no big deal or anything, but the owner’s manual is signed by Posh Spice herself.
Reed Krakoff, Coach and Reed Krakoff
Reed Krakoff created his namesake label in 2010, but he has had the role of creative director of Coach since 1996. Now this may not be the oddest of pairings, however considering how stark a difference of the aesthetics in both labels, we included him in this list. He took the American leather goods brand and turned it into a global success before embarking on his own design career. It was a controversial decision back in ’96 to give Krakoff the title of creative director, but his success at Coach has led him to the role as the president of the company as well as the creative director. His namesake label has most recently been worn by Michelle Obama during the inauguration weekend, which just adds to his list of success.
Jessica Alba, Windows Phone
We find it kind of hard to believe that Jessica Alba uses a Windows Phone as opposed to an iPhone, but who are we to say? In October 2012, Alba appeared at the launch of the Windows Phone and told everyone she had given up her iPhone and replaced it with a Microsoft smartphone.
Will.I.Am, Intel
Will.I.Am is no creative director, oh no. He is Intel’s director of creative innovation. (Huge difference, you guys.) In January 2011 it was announced that the Black Eyed Peas singer/frontman would be joining the Intel team to make monthly trips to the office, and go on a world tour to promote Intel’s Ultrabook which kicked off in January of 2012. In a recent issue of Fortune, Will.I.Am confessed that music is no longer at the top of his priority list, but his work with Intel as the director of creative innovation is.
Alicia Keys, Blackberry
The Blackberry launch of the Z10 was a big event for the Canadian company formerly known as RIM that came with a little surprise at the launch last week: Alicia Keys was named the Global Creative Director of the brand in hopes of bringing Blackberry’s popularity back. While there is no information about what Keys will be doing exactly for the brand, we speculate that she will be used in commercials and have our fingers crossed for a remix of her hit “Fallin’” that’s about “Callin.’” (GET IT?)
Marc Jacobs, Diet Coke
We didn’t need another reason to look at Marc Jacobs topless (remember the Bang ads?), but Diet Coke gave us one yesterday—and we’ll take it. Jacobs has been named the creative director and face of Diet Coke just in time for the soda’s 30 year anniversary in Europe. Past designers that have been the creative director of Diet Coke include Jean Paul Gaultier and Karl Lagerfeld. Marc Jacobs told WWD, “I still think it’s hysterical people want me to take my shirt off. You know, I’m going to be 50 in two months, so I guess I should be glad.” Well, we won’t lie: we’re glad, too. The bottles and official ad campaign have yet to be released, but this little taste of what’s to come will tide us over in the meantime.
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