Fashion Thoughts: The FROW Controversy - Pixie Lott's PR Machine

You may or may not have heard the news that irritatingly bland popstar Pixie Lott threw a strop when she couldn't sit on the front row at Mulberry's London Fashion Week show just days ago. Yes, it's not exactly a scoop to discover that not everyone can have a prime spot on the benches when they're viewing the catwalk, but what was perhaps more shocking was the lack of genuine fashion interest from either Ms. Lott or her PR team. 

The Daily Telegraph reported that Lott's PR spokesperson said, "The whole point of Pixie being there is to be in the front row," which is a valid comment as she is a marketable commodity, but surely the whole purpose of attending a show is to see what the designer has created - in this case, to marvel at Emma Hill's genius. In both Pixie Lott's actions and her PR's comment there has been no disguising the fact that a genuine fashion lover would not behave in this way. If you are lucky enough to attend a show, regardless of your level of fame, you should feel privileged to have this access - either that, or politely decline and let someone who has a valid interest take your place. 

 [What Pixie Lott missed at Mulberry: image by Vladimir Potop, via The Daily Telegraph]. 

I would quite happily be sat up in the lighting rigs of the BFC Showspace at Somerset House if it meant that I got a glimpse of the catwalk first hand. As it's not often that I get to see a catwalk show in person (you can say that again - my first trip inside the BFC Showspace was yesterday), I will happily make do with the brilliant coverage on sites like Style.com, Fashionising and Grazia Daily or Elle, if not the official coverage from London Fashion Week. For some strange reason, and not just because her music is not to my taste, I cannot imagine Pixie Lott eagerly logging onto her computer to get her fashion fix in time, though she has put her name to two clothing lines for British brand Lipsy and she will wax lyrical about her fashion obsession if she's being interviewed. This is where Lott differs from enthusiastic bloggers like Tavi Gevinson and stylish celebrities such as Victoria Beckham or Nicola Roberts, who carefully cultivate their own looks without a stylist and read magazines like they're bibles. They are hard grafters who are not afraid to take risks and have established themselves within the fashion industry for good reason.

I am not saying that a popstar should have an ingrained love of fashion, or even a tolerance of it, but they shouldn't create a 'fashion designer' persona if they don't give a damn about a show unless they can use it to self-publicise. A celebrity who has their own clothing line and builds up an image of creativity should be very careful not to shatter the illusion by revealing that they are only attending catwalk shows for attention. I'm sure that Mulberry will not lose sleep over Lott's walkout, but she may have just lost herself a few invites next season.