The actress has taken a stake in contemporary footwear and accessories brand Pour La Victoire where she will assume the position of artistic director.
Diaz, who does not have a background in fashion, jumped at the chance to make her mark on the New York-based label, when a PLV board member and friend Dave Baram invited her to the company’s showroom roughly a year ago. Initially, Diaz’s visit was meant more as a meet-and-greet than a business proposition, but according to the actress, she soon realized there was an opportunity for her.
What will be difficult for Diaz is sidestepping the “celebrity-turned-designer” cliché that can quickly fizzle. While Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen and Victoria Beckham are the strong exceptions, it’s hard to forget Sarah Jessica Parker’s underwhelming stint at Halston or even worse, Lindsay Lohan’s disastrous run as Ungaro’s artistic director.
She also underlined that her role is a “true partnership” with PLV. Diaz is referring to the fact that she owns an undisclosed stake in PLV Studio Inc., parent company of PLV and its sister brand Kelsi Dagger, a lower-priced contemporary accessories brand targeting a younger-teen-to-twentysomething consumer.
For an early sense of Diaz’s style, one need not look further than PLV’s current advertising campaign with Jessica Hart. According to PLV, Diaz was on the set when Terry Richardson shot the campaign, and she provided input. Now that the deal is inked, Diaz will have a larger voice in the direction of upcoming campaigns.
In terms of product, while Diaz’s first collection will not hit the market until the spring, PLV will roll out a fall and holiday campaign called “Cameron’s Picks.” and it will be highlighted on the company’s Web site, Twitter and Facebook pages and the e-commerce sites of its retail partners.
She repeated the term “aspirational,” but emphasized the affordable aspect of PLV, which drew her to the brand. “We want the brand to be accessible for that working girl,” she said. “I work hard for my money. I want it [the collection] to be sensible, whether you have a lot of money or you are scraping together pennies.”
source: wwd