A Context-Free Gripe

You know what really bothers me? When a person establishes herself as an arbiter of good taste, gains a big client list, and then begins to paint every single one of her clients to look exactly the same. Let's pretend for a moment that this gripe has nothing at all to do with me or my work. I'm not going to name any Swedish names. Let's say I'm talking about Rachel Zoe. So Rachel Zoe had a fashion idea: She styled herself to be extremely thin with wild blond, bohemian hair, flowing dresses, large sunglasses, tangles of jewelry, oversized statement bags, and teetering heels. And then: Bang! Bang! Bang! Out roll Lindsay Lohan, Nicole Richie, Mischa Barton, Kate Hudson, and Keira Knightly, all looking like little Zoe clones.

Sure, a client pays for the benefit of Rachel Zoe's personal style, but the hope is that she will get to know the person or product or brand in question and tailor a stylish and unique identity that one can call one's own. The converse is pretty much the equivalent of a choreographer selling the same dance routine to two different ballet companies. It sounds ludicrous in the dance company context, doesn't it? Unheard of! Terrible! So why do we stand for assembly line sameness when it comes to style? It's lazy, uncreative and unscrupulous to apply the same formula to every client. This approach should destroy the reputation of such an arbiter of taste. But alas, somehow it never does.