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Ungaro gives the Lohan lowdown

Ungaro's CEO has explained his decision to fire designer Esteban Cortazar in favour of Lindsay Lohan.

As Lindsay Lohan prepares to unveil her first collection for Emanuel Ungaro at Paris Fashion Week on 4 October, the label's CEO, Mounir Moufarrige, has spoken publicly for the first time about the furore surrounding his decision to hire her.

Moufarrige attracted a raft of publicity in May when he fired the label's designer of three seasons, Colombian-born wunderkind Esteban Cortazar, in order to install a creative partnership of Lohan and designer Estella Archs. Moufarrige claimed to have been inspired to invite Lohan on board after seeing her perform favourably on the US version of Project Runway, and that it was Cortazar's refusal to work with a celebrity - any celebrity - that meant he was ousted.

"When I signed Esteban it was clear he would have to work with a celebrity artistic adviser, and they would walk the runway together," said Moufarrige. "But Esteban was actually fired because he refused to work with Paris Hilton and then Lizzie Jagger."

Lohan's appointment wasn't, Moufarrige admitted upfront, on the strength of her design skills - despite the Mean Girls star owning her own leggings label.

"Lindsay Lohan is not a designer, we are not pretending that she is. But she is a great merchandiser who can bring lots of ideas. You will soon see that," he said, speaking to Fashion Wire Daily. "I was looking at who was attracting lots of attention. Celebrities have replaced the models - Linda and Christy and Cindy - have all been replaced not by other models but by celebrities."

"We have a mature designer in Estrella combined with a star who commands international attention," he continued. "We need to bring in younger and cooler and trends to Ungaro. This team can provide that."

Picture: Lindsay Lohan at last night's Vogue party in Paris.

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See Lindsay Lohan hit the Paris Fashion Week spring/summer 2010 front rows.
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