Rebuilding a movie star: How Lindsay Lohan is staging her Hollywood comeback, one outfit at a time
"Well, this is genius," says Alex Badia as he stares at photos of Lindsay Lohan's designer-fueledFreakier Fridaypress tour. "And you know, it hasn't always been that way for her." Badia is the head of the fashion department at Women's Wear Daily; he's also its on-camera correspondent for awards shows and the Met Gala. Movie stars don't faze him; neither do $20,000 couture gowns. And yet, the been-there-worn-that style expert is more than impressed with the fashion comeback tour currently being staged by Lohan, 39, for herFreakier Fridaypromo duties. "This isn't even a fashion thing," Badia tells Yahoo. "It's more like a marketing campaign for Lindsay 2.0." Lindsay 1.0 was already amazing. The Long Island native was drop-kicked into superstardom viaThe Parent Trapremake (1998), followed byFreaky Friday(2003) and the Queen Bee of teen movies, 2004'sMean Girls. But while Lohan was growing from ingenue to star, her public substance use overshadowed her talent. Years of drunk driving busts and drug possession charges led to 13 days in jail, followed by 15 years in movie jail, making made-for-TV fare and guest appearances (and Lawyer.com commercials!) while slowly rebuilding her life. Lohan eventually settled in Dubai and became a mother in 2023, right when comforting Y2K trends like micro mini skirts and Uggs emerged, plus sequels likeAnd Just Like That…andBridget Jones: Mad About the Boy.That's around the time when Lohan's longtime mentor, Jamie Lee Curtis, stepped up to advocate for thestar's second chance at Disney. Freakier Fridayis shaping up to be Lohan's global bid for A-list reentry. To honor her comeback, Disney has carefully crafted a press campaign that fashion psychologist and bestselling authorShakaila Forbes-Bellcalls "a classic example of show, don't tell." Aside from a sparse clutch of high-profile interviews for outlets likeElleandThe Tonight Show,Lohan has kept relatively quiet and let her clothes do the talking. The looks have been built byAndrew Mukamal, Lindsay Lohan's current stylist, who is best known for engineering Margot Robbie'sBarbiepress tour into its own all-pink party. (Mukamal told Yahoo he couldn't comment on this story — another example of the clothes doing the talking here.) Along with Blake Lively's longtime makeup artistKristofer Buckleand Sabrina Carpenter's regular hairstylistDanielle Priano, Mukamal ensures that Lindsay Lohan'sFreakier Fridaylooks work as megaphones blaring a singular message: she is ready and able to return to stardom. Lohan kicked off her comeback tour on July 22 with a series of classic gowns, including a baby pink Miu Miu twirler and a tiered chiffon dress from Rabanne. "You see this type of super-glossy look a lot with celebrities who have a bad reputation," a crisis communications director at a luxury brand, who asked for anonymity, tells Yahoo. (Her company sometimes dresses Lohan.) When a celebrity is in image rehab, Badia explains, "their job isn't to be trendy. It's to assure people they'rereliable." In that way, wearing an Oscar de la Renta column dress could send the message that she's a pillar of the industry — and that she's still standing. On July 28, Lohan appeared in a yellow tweed skirt suit by Balmain. Fans of the actress immediately clocked its similarity to a teenier yellow suit worn by her tween character, Annie James, inThe Parent Trap. The same day, Lohan wore a Roberto Cavalli dress that twinned with theothersibling she played in the film, Hallie Parker. "It's so intentional," says Badia. "They know the immediate press it gets." The fashion flashbacks continued as Lohan wore a "Pink Slip" T-shirt and pink cardigan that referenced both herFreaky Fridayband name and herMean Girlsnemesis, Regina George. A custom-made lavender gown Lohan wore to the U.K. premiere by the emerging French designer Ludovic de Saint Sernin mirrored her final dress fromFreaky Friday. "Redoing these looks is a form of nostalgia, which is really powerful in fashion because it can immediately invoke positive feelings," says Forbes-Bell. Connecting fashion with childhood memories "also invites fans to engage with play and childlike wonder." There's also a gameplay element to the throwback looks. Spotting a movie fashion reference from 20 years ago is the kind of "if you know you know" brag that bonds internet fandoms and stokes bored group chats. Building Easter eggs into Lohan's wardrobe tour makes the experience more interactive, and lets those watching from afar feel like they're in on a fun secret. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lindsay Lohan (@lindsaylohan) As Hollywood moves further into the streaming economy and content gets cheaper to make through AI and TikTok, celebrity salaries can become a casualty. (WitnessThe White Lotuscast getting paid $40,000 per episode in 2025, when past TV royalty like theFriendscast earned $1 million for 30 minutes of air time in its final seasons.) Because of this new cash crunch, "it's more important than ever for actresses to secure fashion and beauty campaigns," says Badia. "The red carpet is essentially an audition for those campaigns." To show that she can attract the right kind of press for designer brands, Lohan's third clothing rail is stuffed with runway looks, including slinky gowns from Saint Laurent and Chloé, a suit from Sergio Hudson and a Carrie Bradshaw tutu situation from the edgy French label Jacquemus. Together, these pieces cost nearly $18,000. But a star like Lohan's potential haul as the face of a luxury brand is an estimated$3 million per campaign, according to the New York Times. Nobody who's coveted a $2,900 Miu Miu bag thinks moneycan'tbuy a little swing of happiness. Still, Forbes-Bell suspects the real value of Lohan's red carpet tour isn't something she can charge to her American Express. "She looks like she's having a blast," says Forbes-Bell. "As humans, we're drawn to beautiful things, but they have to feelreal. Her outfit is gorgeousandher smile is real. That's what fans are here to see." This weekend,Freakier Fridayofficially hits global cinemas, and Lohan's bankability will be tested at the box office. So, too, will her ability to sell style along with movie tickets. One early hint? After Lohan wore Cavalli's zany pheasant-print minidress on July 28, searches for the brand spiked nearly 340%. Despite its $3,025 price tag, it zipped from shelves with the speed of a celebrity tabloid rumor. At Cavalli's boutique,every version of the dress is gone. Online at Farfetch,there's literally one leftas of press time. In the words ofFreaky Fridayfans, it's the ultimate.
Rebuilding a movie star: How Lindsay Lohan is staging her Hollywood comeback, one outfit at a time "Well, this is genius," says Al...
