Blame it on the skinny model controversy and just wanting to avoid the issue entirely. Or maybe it is just boredom. But summer, it seems, has spawned some lateral thinking in the fashion world about where a brand should put its clothes.

Not only have Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent come out with spanky new…well, I hate to use the word “models”, it’s more like “display people.” Or maybe “image-makers”? How about “kindred minds and bodies”? Hmmm. But whatever you want to call it, it has led to an entirely new business being created to make money out of the sort of thing they are doing.

Consider:

-         this Saturday, British It band Florence and the Machine will begin a tour of North America with the said Florence clad entirely by Gucci, in a canny positioning of the brand in the US and Canada. Though the UK is unquestionably saturated by the whole music/fashion thing, thanks to Burberry, its ad campaigns and Burberry acoustic, by hooking up with Florence offshore, Gucci is grabbing some of that identity for itself going forward. Here’s a sketch of what to expect:

Gucci

-         meanwhile, on the 16^th, a new version of the Harold Pinter play “Betrayal” shows in London’s West End, starring adult hotties Kristin Scott Thomas and Dougray Scott – and costumes by YSL’s Stefano Pilati. Specifically, expect Ms Scott Thomas in “in a fuchsia silk dress, classic cashmere camel coat, and chiffon skirts in signature Stefano Pilati fingerprint patterns, toting statement YSL bags,” and Mr Scott in “YSL suiting, with louche suede and leather jackets.” Golly! Also expect a new intellectual overlay to the YSL image, leaving music to its PPR stablemate, opera to Prada and claiming the high-minded stage (and perhaps more importantly, stage-goers) for itself.

-          And finally, the Nevs modeling agency in London, having noted the above, has started a new division to sign up-and-coming actors and singers and book them into fashion ads. Here’s their sell: “It is the first created by a modelling agency in response to advertiser demand for genuinely fresh talent that would be able to offer a credible promotional role model to brands. The division will be the first in the market to offer a showcase in one place the new wave of talent to coming out of the worlds of music and screen.”

Now, I know models have been second-tier choices for glossy magazine covers for a long time now, but their status seems to be falling ever further. Those poor pretty girls. They’re so yesterday.