Michelle Obama, Vogue
Direct quote from the Harvard Business Review.
“Professor David Yermack of NYU’s Stern School found that following 189 public appearances between November 2008 and December 2009, Michelle Obama created $2.7 billion in cumulative abnormal returns—value over and above normal market variations—for fashion and retail companies associated with the clothes she wore.
Obama’s effect is partly a redistribution of value. While the brands she chooses gain value, investors punish a competitive sample of companies who make and sell clothes she doesn’t wear. The non-chosen ones lose 0.4% over the same time.
Yermack was surprised by the robustness and persistence of the effect. For 18 major appearances, the abnormal returns were 2.3%. Compare that to a 0.5% average gain when a company announces a new celebrity endorser. For one European tour, an index made up of stocks associated with her wardrobe gained 16.3%, trouncing the S+P 500’s 6.1% gain in the same period.”
The whole article can be read in the Harvard Business Review
But what is also interesting is the fact that Carla Bruni-Sarkozy who let’s face is a stunning girl makes no impact on fashion – she of course only steps out in Dior where as Obama mixes it up with high street… I wonder what impact Sam Cameron will be having – now that the British Fashion Council have announced her recent appointment to assist in the running of London Fashion Week?
Confirmation by the Guardian.
So who is going to get your wardrobe next season?