Hilton, Stefani, Combs – No, it’s not the latest gossip column, but the roster of new designers popping up at stores. These days if you can fit your last name onto a label, you can create your own brand. Whether it’s clothing lines, accessories, beauty products, or fragrances, celebrity influence has gone beyond setting the trends and moved onto creating them.

Perhaps the most well established and well received of these celebrity undertakings is Sean “Puffy” Comb’s line of menswear, Sean John. A pioneer of monopolizing numerous industries with the power of reputation, Puffy has proved not only monetarily successful, but in the fashion world as well. Urban inspired looks don the runway of his shows and receive acclaim. Not far behind from her ex-beau, Jennifer Lopez has been very successful with her clothing line, J. Lo, and fragrance line. Both emphasize a certain “look” that coincides both with their demeanor and the likely tastes of established fans. The success of both lines has to do with image, marketing and the higher price tag found in department stores.

Gwen Stefani of No Doubt has a rock- inspired, punky line out called L.A.M.B. Being somewhat of a fashion icon, the translation from muse to designer is an easy one to follow. Rap artist Eve has teamed up with another line, Ecko, to create a line of glitzy, downtown pieces. Even Nicky Hilton has started her own line of expensive purses.

There are countless new designers who start their own lines everyday, and although celebrities only attribute to a handful, the fact that they already have an audience makes the chance of success higher. Whether or not the products are of quality design does stop customers from slamming down the plastic. Fashion school graduates with years of experience may struggle for a decade until one day the house of Gucci finds them, and even still, their names go unnoticed. How many people call to mind a designer and immediately think of Tom Ford?

It is not to say that these celebrity designers have no talent in design, but rather that their lines are mass marketed, just like their last CD. Buy the piece because you are drawn to its style elements and let labels take a backseat.