Bring Us the Spawn of Your Celebrities

TAYLOR MADE Lydia Hearst (Photo: Getty Images)

The occasion of a celebrities' fetching offspring being cast to shill for a fashion line is rarely noteworthy, but Lord & Taylor's newest campaign seems to be a unique sort of pandering. In October, the 181-year-old company will unveil its new ad campaign, plastering the likeness of a Hearst, a McEnroe, and an Eastwood throughout the major fashion rags in hopes of revamping its staid image.

Lord & Taylor spent $10 million on the spreads, which is headed up by David Lipman, famous for his work with Burberry and Zegna. The employment of Lydia Hearst (Patty Hearst's daughter), Sean McEnroe (child of John McEnroe and Tatum O'Neal), and Scott Reeves (son of Clint Eastwood) as models gives the distinct whiff of desperation from a brand in the awkward position of wanting to shed its title of the country's oldest department store in hopes of reinvigorating sales. After store closings and slumping sales, Lord & Taylor was bought by NDRC Equity Partners LLC last year, and has since quietly changed 85 percent of the merchandise to new labels. Finally ready to make the renovations public, the company is going all out with new ads, a glorified logo, and modernized store décor.