“Hairspray” the musical-turned-movie has been nothing less than a media frenzy for the stars including John Travolta, Queen Latifah, and the barely-out-of-her-teens sitcom starlet, Amanda Bynes.

But the movie isn’t all Amanda has been up to this year. She’s joining the ranks of super celeb Sarah Jessica Parker and NBA great Stephon Marbury with plans to launch a line for discount clothing retailer Steve & Barry’s. What is it about the store – which is a little more than a notch above Wal-Mart – that� attracts such household names to design for them?

SJP made a name for herself as “Sex and the City’s” uber-fashionista; her cutting-edge style inspired women every week. Yet a mere few years later she started designing clothes that the average human being could actually afford – unlike most of her actor-turned-designer contemporaries.

Stephon Marbury created the $15 basketball shoe so that kids (ok, and adults) could lace up like a basketball great without plunking down a great deal of money.

For Marbury, designing sneakers on the cheap fulfilled a personal dream. He says he feels enabled to “change the world,” by giving kids and their parents a quality product endorsed by a NBA star that they can actually afford.

According to Oprah.com, Stephon understands what it’s like growing up and not being able to afford expensive sneakers. “My mother always said, ‘That’s grocery money.’� So for me, allowing kids now to be able to go to the store and spend their money on sneakers and to be able to buy it themselves, it’s a movement. We’ve created something that everyone across the world is benefiting from.

We still can’t help but wonder, though, why Parker and Byrnes have decided to go cost-effective as opposed to cost-inflated. They’re famous. People would buy. They could totally take advantage of their status and following and make **Gasp** even more money!

Maybe these three have realized they don’t really need more money, and are in it for the fun? For Bynes, she says she’s “always wanted to be a designer.” Of her “Dear” line, Bynes promises that not are the clothes well made, but they’ll fit well, and are something she likes to wear. She adds that if you find a piece you really love, you can afford to stock up – since everything is priced so reasonably.

As for Parker, she holds similar feelings about being able to bring her fans something luxurious and affordable. Her brand’s tag line is, after all “Fashion is not a luxury, it’s a right,” she’s said,
“Women should be able to wear great clothes and not lie in bed at night feeling guilty about how much money they’ve spent.”

Can it be that these three actually care about their fans?

- Alexis James
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