{"id":56095,"date":"2025-08-09T04:05:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-09T04:05:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/56095\/"},"modified":"2025-08-09T04:05:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-09T04:05:09","slug":"how-red-carpet-fashion-is-rebuilding-the-stars-reputation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/56095\/","title":{"rendered":"How red carpet fashion is rebuilding the star’s reputation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cWell, this is genius,\u201d says Alex Badia as he stares at photos of Lindsay Lohan\u2019s designer-fueled Freakier Friday press tour. \u201cAnd you know, it hasn\u2019t always been that way for her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Badia is the head of the fashion department at Women’s Wear Daily; he’s also its on-camera correspondent for awards shows and the Met Gala. Movie stars don\u2019t faze him; neither do $20,000 couture gowns. And yet, the been-there-worn-that style expert is more than impressed with the fashion comeback tour currently being staged by Lohan, 39, for her Freakier Friday promo duties. \u201cThis isn\u2019t even a fashion thing,\u201d Badia tells Yahoo. \u201cIt\u2019s more like a marketing campaign for Lindsay 2.0.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lindsay 1.0 was already amazing. The Long Island native was drop-kicked into superstardom via The Parent Trap remake (1998), followed by Freaky Friday (2003) and the Queen Bee of teen movies, 2004\u2019s Mean Girls. But while Lohan was growing from ingenue to star, her public substance use overshadowed her talent. Years of drunk driving busts and drug possession charges led to 13 days in jail, followed by 15 years in movie jail, making made-for-TV fare and guest appearances (and Lawyer.com commercials!) while slowly rebuilding her life. Lohan eventually settled in Dubai and became a mother in 2023, right when comforting Y2K trends like micro mini skirts and Uggs reemerged, plus sequels like And Just Like That\u2026 and Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy. That\u2019s around the time when Lohan\u2019s longtime mentor, Jamie Lee Curtis, stepped up to advocate for the star’s second chance at Disney<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Freakier Friday is shaping up to be Lohan\u2019s global bid for A-list reentry. To honor her comeback, Disney has carefully crafted a press campaign that fashion psychologist and bestselling author Shakaila Forbes-Bell<\/a> calls \u201ca classic example of show, don\u2019t tell.\u201d Aside from a sparse clutch of high-profile interviews for outlets like Elle<\/a> and The Tonight Show, Lohan has kept relatively quiet and let her clothes do the talking.<\/p>\n

The looks have been built by Andrew Mukamal<\/a>, Lindsay Lohan\u2019s current stylist, who is best known for engineering Margot Robbie\u2019s Barbie press tour into its own all-pink party. (Mukamal told Yahoo he couldn\u2019t comment on this story \u2014 another example of the clothes doing the talking here.) Along with Blake Lively\u2019s longtime makeup artist Kristofer Buckle<\/a> and Sabrina Carpenter\u2019s regular hairstylist Danielle Priano<\/a>, Mukamal ensures that Lindsay Lohan\u2019s Freakier Friday looks work as megaphones blaring a singular message: She is ready and able to return to stardom.<\/p>\n

The first rule of fashion redemption: Keep it classic\"Lindsay<\/p>\n

Lindsay Lohan at the the Los Angeles premiere of Disney’s Freakier Friday. (Axelle\/Bauer-Griffin\/FilmMagic via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Lohan kicked off her comeback tour on July 22 with a series of classic gowns, including a baby pink Miu Miu twirler and a tiered chiffon dress from Rabanne.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou see this type of super-glossy look a lot with celebrities who have a bad reputation,\u201d a crisis communications director at a luxury brand, who asked for anonymity, tells Yahoo. (Her company sometimes dresses Lohan.) When a celebrity is in image rehab, Badia explains, \u201ctheir job isn\u2019t to be trendy. It\u2019s to assure people they\u2019re reliable.\u201d In that way, wearing an Oscar de la Renta column dress could send the message that she\u2019s a pillar of the industry \u2014 and that she\u2019s still standing.<\/p>\n

The second rule of fashion redemption: Flash back to move forward\"Lindsay<\/p>\n

Lindsay Lohan in a tweed suit, an apparent callback to The Parent Trap. (zz\/XNY\/STAR MAX\/IPx via Associated Press)<\/p>\n

On July 28, Lohan appeared in a yellow tweed skirt suit by Balmain. Fans of the actress immediately clocked its similarity to a teenier yellow suit worn by her tween character, Annie James, in The Parent Trap. <\/p>\n

The same day, Lohan wore a Roberto Cavalli dress that twinned with the other sibling she played in the film, Hallie Parker. \u201cIt\u2019s so intentional,\u201d says Badia. \u201cThey know the immediate press it gets.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Left:<\/p>\n

Lindsay Lohan in 1998’s The Parent Trap, left, and Lindsay Lohan in 2025 promoting Freakier Friday. (Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Everett and James Devaney\/GC Images via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The fashion flashbacks continued as Lohan wore a \u201cPink Slip\u201d T-shirt and pink cardigan that referenced both her Freaky Friday band name and her Mean Girls nemesis, Regina George. A custom-made lavender gown Lohan wore to the U.K. premiere by the emerging French designer Ludovic de Saint Sernin mirrored her final dress from Freaky Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cRedoing these looks is a form of nostalgia, which is really powerful in fashion because it can immediately invoke positive feelings,\u201d says Forbes-Bell. Connecting fashion with childhood memories \u201calso invites fans to engage with play and childlike wonder.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Left:<\/p>\n

Chad Michael Murray and Lindsay Lohan in 2003’s Freaky Friday, left, and Lindsay Lohan promoting 2025’s Freakier Friday at the U.K. premiere. (Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Walt Disney\/Everett Collection and Alan Chapman\/Dave Benett\/WireImage via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also a gameplay element to the throwback looks. Spotting a movie fashion reference from 20 years ago is the kind of \u201cif you know, you know\u201d brag that bonds internet fandoms and stokes bored group chats. Building Easter eggs into Lohan\u2019s wardrobe tour makes the experience more interactive and lets those watching from afar feel like they\u2019re in on a fun secret.<\/p>\n

The third rule of fashion redemption: Secure the YSL bag<\/p>\n

As Hollywood moves further into the streaming economy and content gets cheaper to make through AI and TikTok, celebrity salaries can become a casualty. (Witness The White Lotus cast getting paid $40,000 per episode in 2025, when past TV royalty like the Friends cast earned $1 million for 30 minutes of airtime in its final seasons.) Because of this new cash crunch, \u201cit\u2019s more important than ever for actresses to secure fashion and beauty campaigns,\u201d says Badia. \u201cThe red carpet is essentially an audition for those campaigns.\u201d<\/p>\n

To show that she can attract the right kind of press for designer brands, Lohan\u2019s third clothing rail is stuffed with runway looks, including slinky gowns from Saint Laurent and Chlo\u00e9, a suit from Sergio Hudson and a Carrie Bradshaw tutu situation from the edgy French label Jacquemus. Together, these pieces cost nearly $18,000. But a star like Lohan\u2019s potential haul as the face of a luxury brand is an estimated $3 million per campaign<\/a>, according to the New York Times.<\/p>\n

\"Lindsay<\/p>\n

Lindsay Lohan in Jacquemus. (Stephanie Augello\/Variety via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Nobody who\u2019s coveted a $2,900 Miu Miu bag thinks money can\u2019t buy a little swing of happiness. Still, Forbes-Bell suspects the real value of Lohan\u2019s red carpet tour isn\u2019t something she can charge to her American Express. \u201cShe looks like she\u2019s having a blast,\u201d says Forbes-Bell. \u201cAs humans, we\u2019re drawn to beautiful things, but they have to feel real. Her outfit is gorgeous, and her smile is real. That\u2019s what fans are here to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

This weekend, Freakier Friday officially hits global cinemas, and Lohan\u2019s bankability will be tested at the box office. So too will her ability to sell style along with movie tickets. One early hint? After Lohan wore Cavalli\u2019s zany pheasant-print minidress on July 28, searches for the brand spiked nearly 340%<\/a>. Despite its $3,025 price tag, it zipped from shelves with the speed of a celebrity tabloid rumor. At Cavalli\u2019s online store, every version of the dress is gone<\/a>. Online at Farfetch, there\u2019s literally one left<\/a> as of press time. In the words of Freaky Friday fans, it\u2019s the ultimate.<\/p>\n