万花筒 Kaleidoscope 2007-03-26&27, 歌坛教主进军时装界

She is the multi-Grammy Award winning, ever-changing queen of pop, an icon¹ of style, actress, mother and global brand. Now the material girl has reinvented herself again, this time, as a fashion designer. M for Madonna, a range of clothing designed by the star goes on sale worldwide this week in stores of the European fashion retailer² H&M. In an age where the line between celebrity³ and business is blurred⁴, teaming up with a global brand like H&M makes commercial sense.

It's not about reinvention, it's about being savvy⁵. It's about knowing your market and also knowing that every market has what is called a product life-cycle. It starts, it starts declining, but then you can extend it, or even better, you can say what have I learned from that? And now I am going to start again. And that's what she's done. She is one of the greatest marketers I've ever ever come across.

Madonna says it's no secret that she loves the world of fashion, but will a range of clothes designed by a horse riding 48-year-old mother of three, inspire the world's trendy young things and fashion conscious?

I mean I love her music, but I think the stuff she has designed is really nice as well. That is why I get quick, grab a piece of it.

I'm gonna see what the pieces are like. I wanna see the quality of them, you know. But I think I will be up to pick up a few bits and pieces.

(This time, what you come down here to say?) To get a dress for my fiancée. (So you've seen it already?) Yeah. But in black.

But these days, as Kurt Cobain has demonstrated, you don't even have to be alive to build a global brand. The late Nirvana singer was the highest earning celebrity brand last year.

Being dead is a very good marketing⁶ ploy⁷, but of course it has rather, well, it has a few disadvantages here and there. But if you want to put those aside, it's a very good marketing ploy because what it does, it means that people are still buying into the brand ideal of a name rather than the name itself.

So on that slightly distasteful basis, the queen of pop looks set to reign⁸ over the music and fashion worlds for many, many more years to come.

Adrian Finighan CNN, London.

1 icon   

n.偶像，崇拜的对象，画像

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• Click on this icon to align or justify text.点击这个图标使文本排齐。

2 retailer   

n.零售商(人)

参考例句：

• What are the retailer requirements?零售商会有哪些要求呢？
• The retailer has assembled a team in Shanghai to examine the question.这家零售商在上海组建了一支团队研究这个问题。

3 celebrity   

n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望

参考例句：

• Tom found himself something of a celebrity. 汤姆意识到自己已小有名气了。
• He haunted famous men, hoping to get celebrity for himself. 他常和名人在一起, 希望借此使自己获得名气。

4 blurred   

v.（使）变模糊( blur的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）难以区分；模模糊糊；迷离

参考例句：

• She suffered from dizziness and blurred vision. 她饱受头晕目眩之苦。
• Their lazy, blurred voices fell pleasantly on his ears. 他们那种慢吞吞、含糊不清的声音在他听起来却很悦耳。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 savvy   

v.知道，了解；n.理解能力，机智，悟性；adj.有见识的，懂实际知识的，通情达理的

参考例句：

• She was a pretty savvy woman.她是个见过世面的漂亮女人。
• Where's your savvy?你的常识到哪里去了？

6 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

7 ploy   

n.花招，手段

参考例句：

• I think this is just a government ploy to deceive the public.我认为这只是政府欺骗公众的手段。
• Christmas should be a time of excitement and wonder,not a cynical marketing ploy.圣诞节应该是兴奋和美妙的时刻，而不该是一种肆无忌惮的营销策略。

8 reign   

n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势

参考例句：

• The reign of Queen Elizabeth lapped over into the seventeenth century.伊丽莎白王朝延至17世纪。
• The reign of Zhu Yuanzhang lasted about 31 years.朱元璋统治了大约三十一年。