This month's Letter from the Editor in Allure Magazine takes a swipe at Kimora Lee Simmons and her over-the-top glam persona. In the letter, editor Linda Wells, starts by bemoaning the excess packaging of expensive beauty products and how all that unnecessary plastic and cardboard may be harming the environment while making us more beautiful .
"The packaging of beauty products has gotten out of control," she says. "Whatever happened to the ideal of the French woman who wore the same Yves Saint Laurent jacket for 20 years?" And then "The beauty industry has to move away from the Kimora Lee Simmons approach to luxury." A branding specialist added that "All of that shiny cellophane and metal is not sophisticated."
While I agree with her that excess packaging on all products is problematic her other two points just rub me the wrong way. First of all, I also admire women who can look stylish in vintage clothing or with small wardrobes. Hell, I hope to be one of those women someday but to the best of my recollection, this ideal has NEVER been idealized in fashion magazines which exist to push the latest and trendiest clothing and accessories down our throats. Any celebrity or socialite in vintage pieces in one issue will more than likely show up in the same space the following month wearing something fresh off the runway to coincide with whatever advertiser bought the most ads.
Second, though I have a serious love/hate thing going on with Kimora I was miffed at the insult. For one, her cosmetics line doesn't tout $200 beauty creams and certainly isn't over packaged. Sure, she's as flashy as she is mouthy but criticizing her excess in a magazine the regularly praises all manner of pricey concoctions is a bit hypocritical.
This issue alone pushed a $75 per day juice cleanse diet, a $1,125 fox fur vest, $9K Cartier watch, $4,100 Versace gown, a $700 Garren NY haircut and $925 YSL shoes (that definitely could NOT be worn for 20 years!)
If they really wanted to criticize a celebrity for excessive living they should have looked no further than their August cover girl Victoria Beckham.
Photo: Emilie/TFS