They wear it well

Published on Monday 28 December 2009 18:02

THERE has always been an inextricable link between fashion and music. Designers will frequently reference their favourite tracks or artists as inspirations, while a number of musicians seem to put as much effort into what they're wearing as what they're singing.

• Lady Gaga. Picture: Getty

However, uber-diva Jennifer Lopez has taken things a step further with her latest single Louboutins, in which she pays homage to the iconic red-soled shoes, name-checking them 42 times as she describes flashing the scarlet soles at a no-good boyfriend as she walks away from him.

Designer Christian Louboutin has described how the singer and actress phoned him personally to ensure that she got the pronunciation correct ("Loo-boo-tan" in case you're wondering). "The brilliant part of the single is that it's not about me," he told Vogue. "It's about a girl and her shoe. When something is so in mass culture and you have almost nothing to do with it, it's kind of cool." La Lopez isn't the first musician to pay homage to her favourite designer. Rappers frequently name-drop labels in their lyrics while artists including eccentric clothes horse Lady Gaga will devote entire songs to their love of fashion. Below, we take a closer look at the musicians who've waxed lyrical about their favourite designers.

Morrisey

NOT quite an homage, in Morrisey's Christian Dior the Mancunian musician accuses the famous French couturier of wasting his life on "aroma and clothes... fabric and dyes... grandeur and style".

He bitterly describes how the man who gave fashion back to women after the Second World War wasted his years "sensually stroking the weaves of a sleeve". However, by the end we realise that Morrisey is likening himself to the designer, saying that "When you look at me/Failure is all that you see/I discipline my days just like/Christian Dior."

Fergie

LIKE Lady Gaga, in 2008's Labels or Love Fergie doesn't focus on one designer, preferring to illustrate her obsession with all things fashion by reeling off a list of her favourite fashion houses. The song was, suitably enough, the title track from the Sex and the City film, itself an homage to conspicuous consumption. The track references 11 brands as it describes the process of weighing up love versus shopping, with such insightful lines as "A Prada dress has never broken my heart before."

Lady Gaga

The unchallenged fashion queen of 2009, this year Lady Gaga sported the catwalk looks that no other celeb dared to don.

From a red lace mask to those iconic Alexander McQueen Armadillo shoes, she's everyone's favourite fashion superhero, so it makes sense that she's written a song devoted entirely to her love of labels.

While she doesn't single out one favourite designer, the kooky singer namechecks 12 designers in lines like "J'adore Vivienne, habillez-moi Gucci, Fendi, et Prada. Valentino, Armani too. Merde I love them Jimmy Choo."

Kanye West

IN the grand tradition of rappers letting the world know who they're wearing (as well as what they're driving, what they're drinking and who they're sleeping with) Kanye West has repeatedly referenced luxury French fashion house Louis Vuitton in his lyrics, most notably in Stronger in which he describes himself as a "Louis Vuitton Don". He is often seen dressed in the label – popular with rappers thanks to the conspicuous branding – and laden down with the famous luggage. The fashion-loving wordsmith regularly sits front-row at fashion shows, but his favourite remains Louis Vuitton, for whom he has designed a pricey range of trainers.

Marilyn Monroe

In Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend, the famous sex bomb reveals that women have countless physical charms, but, as they get older, they must purchase them. From Tiffany's. Because "stiff back, or stiff knees, you stand straight at Tiffany's. Diamonds, diamonds – I don't mean rhinestones – but diamonds are a girl's best friend". In her love letter to everyone's favourite chunk of carbon, she then goes on to breathlessly call out the names of her favourite jewellers: "Tiffany's! Cartier! Black Starr! Frost Gorham! Talk to me Harry Winston, tell me all about it!"