What do corporate image overhauls look like in the fashion industry?
We see image overhauls on MTV often enough: at first, there was Jennifer Lopez. Her debut single If You Had My Love accomplished the herculean task of ousting Ricky Martin’s Livin’ La Vida Loca from the Billboard Hot 100, and suddenly we had a new Latina queen to aspire to. If there was ever any doubt: you definitely had our love, Jennifer. You definitely had our love.
We were then thrusted into the throes of a new millennium, and with it came the era of J.Lo, who insisted that her love did not cost a thing. To prove just how down to earth she was, she started going out with Ben Affleck shortly after that and made a weird movie with him. Later on still, she was spotted dancing around in a music video wearing designer rags and diamond jewellery with the luminosity of a dying star just to assure everyone that she was still Jenny From The Block.
Jennifer Lopez is not the only artist to combat an identity crisis (hello Puff Daddy/P Diddy/Sean Combs)–in fact, large corporations are sometimes also prone name-changing to suit meandering manifestos. The fashion industry is recently experiencing something of the same sort within its own fold: giant French conglomerate PPR is considering a public relations move in the same vein by changing its name. While you may not recognise PPR on its own, you might be familiar with some of the brands it owns:
