Bebe's TV Fashion Gambit
From left, model Jana Sintschnig, Kime Buzzelli, 90210 costume designer, Erica Wertheim Zohar, of American Groove, and model Brianna Barnes.
Bebe is going nuts over show biz.
In December, Bebe held a party for its line, Kardashian by Bebe for reality TV faves the Kardashian sisters. On Feb. 10, it threw a shindig for its Bebe for 90210 collection, which is designed by Kime Buzzelli, the costume designer for TV show Beverly Hills 90210.
The party was naturally held at Bebe’s ornate flagship store on Beverly Hills’ Rodeo Drive. But there’s more than fashion sizzle with this new line. In many scenes for Beverly Hills 90210, the teen show’s actresses wear pieces of the collection. As the show goes to commercial breaks, a special ad appears stating something like; if you like the clothes 90210 actresses are wearing, you can buy the Bebe for 90210 collection on Bebe.com.
Erica Wertheim Zohar, chief executive of American Groove marketing agency, put Bebe and the teen show together. “It’s easy for TV shows to co-brand,” Wertheim Zohar said. “But they never monetize what is on the shows.” (The deal was formally made between Bebe and CBS Consumer Products, a division of CBS, the owner of The CW network, which airs Beverly Hills 90210.)
Buzzelli, the 90210 costume designer, put together more than 12 looks for the collection, they range from a Bianca Jagger-like white tux pantsuit to a Brigitte Bardot-inspired bustier dress. Retail price points range from $59 to $159. The show will introduce four Bebe for 90210 collections annually.
If the name Kime Buzzelli sounds familiar to Apparel News readers, she ran the iconic Show Pony boutique in Los Angeles’ Echo Park neighborhood. She shuttered Show Pony in 2009. The 90210/Bebe collaboration is not her first venture into designing product. She’s designed collaborations with companies such as Vans and Urban Decay. If you want to get more of her inspired inspirations, she still occasionally blogs at The Moldy Doily.
