A press release was sent out last week about Ryan Reynolds listing Mr. Porter as one of his favourite apps on the Marie Claire blog. (Source)
Movie stars are pimping their favourite apps now? OK, fine.
He listed a few others to support his Thinking Action Man brand: This American Life, Triumph Motorcycle 101 and TED were also included. (None of those came with a dedicated press release.) But Reynolds’s description of luxury fashion website Mr. Porter sounds like a bad TV commercial:
"I like clothes. I don't like shopping for them. This app has just about everything you'd ever want in the world of beautiful clothes — from buttoned-up to casual. And you can do it all while walking the dog in Central Park."
So Ryan is a man who knows how to dress, but real men don’t like to shop, right? For most movie stars, this is where a stylist comes in…although he has his wife Blake Lively, who frequently mentions that she doesn’t use a stylist (on her list of favourites she included Style.com: “This is also one of my most used apps because I do my own styling. .... I truly couldn’t do it without Style.com.”). Style.com is owned by Condé Nast - Vogue, Vanity Fair, W, WWD – top tier all the way. And Blake couldn’t do “it” (it=dressing herself) without it. Hearst owns Marie Claire; I bet there was an editor annoyed at having to give a shout-out to Condé.
Mr. Porter is under the umbrella of Net-a-Porter, one of the most respected luxury online shopping sites, straight up. It’s established, they have proper designer brands and are extremely detail-oriented in descriptions, sizing and even packaging. You will lose hours when you visit so finish this article first, please? Gwyneth was name-checking them for years before she partnered with them for GOOP’s Spring Basics. She really does make the selling seem effortless, no?
The only misstep, especially for someone as shrewd as Blake, was that she should have listed it as her favourite app. A young wife remaking her husband’s wardrobe; it fits right in with the baking and ice cream soda parties.
So what’s at play with Ryan and Mr. Porter? Does he really just like to buy a slim fit velvet Lanvin blazer while he’s walking the dog (in Central Park, of course)? Was it a tiny play-for-pay, as in they get a mention, he gets product or a store credit? (And I’m not knocking him for doing it – it just wasn’t very subtle.) Is there a larger endorsement happening here?
Curated is the buzzword right now, so maybe they are looking for a Ryan Reynolds guide to style on Mr. Porter a la GOOP. He’s dabbled in endorsements with Hugo Boss and his wife can show him the fashion ropes. I mean, REMEMBER, she doesn’t even use a stylist!
Whatever it is, Ryan is now assuming the role of Fashion Husband to his Fashion Wife. He is modeling his endorsements (or at least his iPhone) after his young wife’s. The movie star is taking branding cues from a TV actress. Cue Lainey: How did she do that?
(Lainey -- attaching Ryan Reynolds playing golf in China recently. I think he’d be the first to tell you his swing… needs some work.)
