Celebrity burnout?

Maybe it's just wishful thinking, but we might be approaching "celebrity fatigue," at least when it comes to the fashion business. The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) notes that the big-name designers are using more professional models instead of high-priced actors and actresses. Here's a snippet:

A-list entertainers are so overexposed that "there is a major lack of trust," says Milton Pedraza, chief executive of the Luxury Institute, a New York consulting firm.

It also underscores the tension between serious fashion magazines and celebrity books like People, USWeekly, Star and InStyle that increasingly feature pages of head-to-toe red carpet shots of celebrities sporting designer fashions.

"Ten years ago, having a celebrity in your ad would class it up," says Robert Thompson, founding director of Syracuse University's Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture. "Now, there's something cheesy about it...There are so many celebrities on so many magazines all the time."

The switch comes amid some disappointments in the celebrity ad arena -- including this summer's multimillion-dollar camapign for Orange County-based St. John Knits Inc., which used Angelina Jolie. Sales haven't increased and there's concern that the Hollywood-style approach may have actually alienated the brand's core customers.