Fashion People Think Exploiting Philip Seymour Hoffman's Death Is So Hot Right Now
The latest chapter in humanity's goal to embarrass itself over Philip Seymour Hoffman's death is here: fashion houses are sending out photos and releases of celebrities wearing their garments to the man's funeral.
.The latest chapter in humanity's goal to embarrass itself over Philip Seymour Hoffman's death is here: fashion houses are sending out photos and press releases of celebrities wearing their garments to the man's funeral.
"We are pleased to announce Amy Adams carrying the Valentino Garavani Rockstud Duble bag from the Spring/Summer 2014 collection on February 6th in New York," read a Valentino release obtained by Page Six. February 6 was the day of Hoffman's memorial.
Page Six also reports that Ugg, cobbler to many New Jersey teenage girls, tried to give free swag to Hoffman's friends. "They included a message encouraging them to wear their winter boots in the cold city weather, according to Ugg Australia associates," Page Six reported. Never mind that there is no funeral (unless perhaps the death of the inventor of Uggs) where Uggs are appropriate.
An Ugg spokesperson wrote to us and challenged Page Six's report. Its unclear whether or not they supplied boots to Hoffman's friends, but the company says they did not encourage celebrities to wear Uggs to the funeral. Their spokesperson explained that the Uggs were provided to stylists, not the celebrities:
We don't ask stylists for what purpose their clients need the product, and would not know if anyone who attended a funeral did so in our product. It's not our business to know. And we certainly wouldn't then promote a sighting of a celebrity in our product when he or she is attending a funeral. It's just not done. At least not by UGG.
It's not unusual for fashion houses to send out releases and gifts during big events like Fashion Week or awards shows because they value exposure. Exposure means money. And bottom line: Valentino was trying to parlay Hoffman's death to their advantage.
Unfortunately, this faux pas isn't the first time people have been ungraceful in Hoffman's death. Earlier this week, we were treated to reports of someone breaking the rules of Narcotics Anonymous to gossip about the man and multiple reports of unnecessary and increasingly unseemly facts about his last moments.