The habitus of Elizabeth Hurley: Celebrity, fashion, and identity branding

This article is focused on the manner in which Elizabeth Hurley's career is now centrally located within the world of fashion; not merely as a model advertising the wares of other producers, but as a designer creating and advertising her own "look." The article explores the ways in which she represents a potent contemporary purveyor of a specific "habitus" via her own clothing range and accessories: Elizabeth Hurley Beach, launched in 2005. The article argues that with the establishment of Elizabeth Hurley Beach, Elizabeth Hurley has created a marketable and identifiable "brand" that is built entirely on her persona, image, and upon the centrality of her body within the promotion of the range. Thus, Elizabeth Hurley illustrates the potency of a fashion habitus of which she is both transmitter and subject, having herself to engage in a disciplined regime required to attain and maintain her "fashionable body" The article argues that Elizabeth Hurley Beach not only represents a range of glamorous clothing and accessories to wear, but through marketing and media coverage it also represents a set of instructions on how to wear her garments, and essentially how to replicate, albeit imaginatively, the essence of being Elizabeth Hurley.