Designers return to supermodels

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 at 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 return of the supermodel also follows some celebrity-ad bellyflops. This summer's multimillion-dollar campaign for St. John Knits Inc. starring Angelina Jolie hasn't plumped up the brand's sales and may even have alienated core customers, marketing experts say. Officials at the company weren't available for comment. Gap Inc.'s three-season contract with Sarah Jessica Parker, which started in 2004, seemed like a smart move at first, but by the time the campaign's third season rolled around, the series "Sex and the City" had ended, and consumers grew tired of the ads. A Gap spokeswoman declined to comment.