Fashion Week: The Economic Rationale For Partying Like a Rockstar

You read Us Weekly for the articles. You can't help but be interested in what Lindsay Lohan snorted, ran her car into or slept with this week. But, you went to college, you read the new Chabons and Lethems as soon as they come out! You're not a vapid person! Good news: Celebrity is not only a major driver of the economy, it's a subject worthy of academic scrutiny. University of Southern California professor Elizabeth Currid, PhD., explains the sociology of fame and pop culture.

New Yorkers have a love-hate relationship with the fashion industry, which culminates to quite a crescendo during these special ten days in September. As Guy Trebay notes, "fashion remains the most culturally potent force that everyone loves to deride." While proud of the global cosmopolitanism and attention that fashion brings to the city, New Yorkers still remain skeptical that all the fuss of Fashion Week may amount to nothing.

When The Art Bubble Bursts Into A Splash

You read Us Weekly for the articles. You can't help but be interested in what Lindsay Lohan snorted, ran her car into or slept with this week. But, you went to college, you read the new Chabons and Lethems as soon as they come out! You're not a vapid person! Good news: Celebrity is not only a major driver of the economy, it's a subject worthy of academic scrutiny. University of Southern California professor Elizabeth Currid, PhD., explains the sociology of fame and pop culture.

The art world has a problem with itself, verging on self-loathing. No, I'm not talking about the impending bubble bursting that will render currently celebrated (or at least expensive) art work valueless. I'm not talking about the transformation of starving artists into celebrities who sashay about town with socialites and end up in the gossip columns alongside Paris Hilton or Jay-Z. They are both only symptoms of a bigger concern: Art is no longer just the stuff on museum walls or in wealthy collectors' homes.

You read Us Weekly for the articles. You can't help but be interested in what Lindsay Lohan snorted, ran her car into or slept with this week. But, you went to college, you read the new Chabons and Lethems as soon as they come out! You're not a vapid person! Good news: Celebrity is not only a major driver of the economy, it's a subject worthy of academic scrutiny. University of Southern California professor Elizabeth Currid, PhD., explains the sociology of fame and pop culture.

Like most people who've lived in New York or Los Angeles for a while, I am no longer thrilled about running into celebrities for the sake of running into them. It isn't all that interesting any more, even though it's still amusing to remark, "I ran into Scarlett Johansson and she is so much hotter in person." (She so is).

But intellectually, I'm still curious: What makes someone famous? The obvious answer concerns talent, beauty, or profession. But celebrity validates itself. No one is ever just famous for what they do or what they look like. People are also celebrities because they spend time with other famous people. In other words, they reinforce their status and power by virtue of remaining an exclusive network of celebrities. So how does one even begin to penetrate the celebrity network?