“Properly, that is genius,” says Alex Badia as he stares at pictures of Lindsay Lohan’s designer-fueled Freakier Friday press tour. “And you recognize, it hasn’t all the time been that approach for her.”
Badia is the pinnacle of the style division at Ladies’s Put on Every day; he is additionally its on-camera correspondent for awards exhibits and the Met Gala. Film stars don’t faze him; neither do $20,000 couture robes. And but, the been-there-worn-that model knowledgeable is greater than impressed with the style comeback tour presently being staged by Lohan, 39, for her Freakier Friday promo duties. “This isn’t even a vogue factor,” Badia tells Yahoo. “It’s extra like a advertising and marketing marketing campaign for Lindsay 2.0.”
Lindsay 1.0 was already superb. The Lengthy Island native was drop-kicked into superstardom by way of The Father or mother Lure remake (1998), adopted by Freaky Friday (2003) and the Queen Bee of youngster motion pictures, 2004’s Imply Women. However whereas Lohan was rising from ingenue to star, her public substance use overshadowed her expertise. Years of drunk driving busts and drug possession prices led to 13 days in jail, adopted by 15 years in film jail, making made-for-TV fare and visitor appearances (and Lawyer.com commercials!) whereas slowly rebuilding her life. Lohan ultimately settled in Dubai and have become a mom in 2023, proper when comforting Y2K traits like micro mini skirts and Uggs reemerged, plus sequels like And Simply Like That… and Bridget Jones: Mad In regards to the Boy. That’s across the time when Lohan’s longtime mentor, Jamie Lee Curtis, stepped as much as advocate for the star’s second probability at Disney.
Freakier Friday is shaping as much as be Lohan’s world bid for A-list reentry. To honor her comeback, Disney has fastidiously crafted a press marketing campaign that vogue psychologist and bestselling creator Shakaila Forbes-Bell calls “a traditional instance of present, don’t inform.” Except for a sparse clutch of high-profile interviews for retailers like Elle and The Tonight Present, Lohan has stored comparatively quiet and let her garments do the speaking.
The seems have been constructed by Andrew Mukamal, Lindsay Lohan’s present stylist, who’s finest recognized for engineering Margot Robbie’s Barbie press tour into its personal all-pink occasion. (Mukamal instructed Yahoo he couldn’t touch upon this story — one other instance of the garments doing the speaking right here.) Together with Blake Vigorous’s longtime make-up artist Kristofer Buckle and Sabrina Carpenter’s common hairstylist Danielle Priano, Mukamal ensures that Lindsay Lohan’s Freakier Friday seems work as megaphones blaring a singular message: She is prepared and capable of return to stardom.
The primary rule of vogue redemption: Preserve it traditional
Lindsay Lohan on the the Los Angeles premiere of Disney’s Freakier Friday. (Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic by way of Getty Photos)
Lohan kicked off her comeback tour on July 22 with a sequence of traditional robes, together with a child pink Miu Miu twirler and a tiered chiffon gown from Rabanne.
“You see one of these super-glossy look rather a lot with celebrities who’ve a foul status,” a disaster communications director at a luxurious model, who requested for anonymity, tells Yahoo. (Her firm generally attire Lohan.) When a star is in picture rehab, Badia explains, “their job isn’t to be stylish. It’s to guarantee folks they’re dependable.” In that approach, carrying an Oscar de la Renta column gown may ship the message that she’s a pillar of the business — and that she’s nonetheless standing.
The second rule of vogue redemption: Flash again to maneuver ahead
Lindsay Lohan in a tweed swimsuit, an obvious callback to The Father or mother Lure. (zz/XNY/STAR MAX/IPx by way of Related Press)
On July 28, Lohan appeared in a yellow tweed skirt swimsuit by Balmain. Followers of the actress instantly clocked its similarity to a teenier yellow swimsuit worn by her tween character, Annie James, in The Father or mother Lure.
The identical day, Lohan wore a Roberto Cavalli gown that twinned with the different sibling she performed within the movie, Hallie Parker. “It’s so intentional,” says Badia. “They know the quick press it will get.”
Lindsay Lohan in 1998’s The Father or mother Lure, left, and Lindsay Lohan in 2025 selling Freakier Friday. (Picture illustration: Yahoo Information; pictures: Everett and James Devaney/GC Photos by way of Getty Photos)
The style flashbacks continued as Lohan wore a “Pink Slip” T-shirt and pink cardigan that referenced each her Freaky Friday band identify and her Imply Women nemesis, Regina George. A custom-made lavender robe Lohan wore to the U.Okay. premiere by the rising French designer Ludovic de Saint Sernin mirrored her remaining gown from Freaky Friday.
“Redoing these seems is a type of nostalgia, which is basically highly effective in vogue as a result of it could possibly instantly invoke optimistic emotions,” says Forbes-Bell. Connecting vogue with childhood recollections “additionally invitations followers to have interaction with play and childlike marvel.”
Chad Michael Murray and Lindsay Lohan in 2003’s Freaky Friday, left, and Lindsay Lohan selling 2025’s Freakier Friday on the U.Okay. premiere. (Picture illustration: Yahoo Information; pictures: Walt Disney/Everett Assortment and Alan Chapman/Dave Benett/WireImage by way of Getty Photos)
There’s additionally a gameplay factor to the throwback seems. Recognizing a film vogue reference from 20 years in the past is the type of “if you recognize, you recognize” brag that bonds web fandoms and stokes bored group chats. Constructing Easter eggs into Lohan’s wardrobe tour makes the expertise extra interactive and lets these watching from afar really feel like they’re in on a enjoyable secret.
The third rule of vogue redemption: Safe the YSL bag
As Hollywood strikes additional into the streaming economic system and content material will get cheaper to make via AI and TikTok, superstar salaries can turn into a casualty. (Witness The White Lotus forged getting paid $40,000 per episode in 2025, when previous TV royalty just like the Buddies forged earned $1 million for half-hour of airtime in its remaining seasons.) Due to this new money crunch, “it’s extra necessary than ever for actresses to safe vogue and wonder campaigns,” says Badia. “The pink carpet is basically an audition for these campaigns.”
To point out that she will appeal to the correct of press for designer manufacturers, Lohan’s third clothes rail is filled with runway seems, together with slinky robes from Saint Laurent and Chloé, a swimsuit from Sergio Hudson and a Carrie Bradshaw tutu scenario from the edgy French label Jacquemus. Collectively, these items value almost $18,000. However a star like Lohan’s potential haul because the face of a luxurious model is an estimated $3 million per marketing campaign, in response to the New York Instances.
Lindsay Lohan in Jacquemus. (Stephanie Augello/Selection by way of Getty Photos)
No one who’s coveted a $2,900 Miu Miu bag thinks cash can’t purchase a bit of swing of happiness. Nonetheless, Forbes-Bell suspects the actual worth of Lohan’s pink carpet tour isn’t one thing she will cost to her American Specific. “She seems like she’s having a blast,” says Forbes-Bell. “As people, we’re drawn to lovely issues, however they must really feel actual. Her outfit is beautiful, and her smile is actual. That’s what followers are right here to see.”
This weekend, Freakier Friday formally hits world cinemas, and Lohan’s bankability shall be examined on the field workplace. So too will her skill to promote model together with film tickets. One early trace? After Lohan wore Cavalli’s zany pheasant-print minidress on July 28, searches for the model spiked almost 340%. Regardless of its $3,025 price ticket, it zipped from cabinets with the pace of a star tabloid rumor. At Cavalli’s on-line retailer, each model of the gown is gone. On-line at Farfetch, there’s actually one left as of press time. Within the phrases of Freaky Friday followers, it’s the last word.
