Why Is Lauren Conrad Going on a Clothing Tour?

The Hills star and designer is taking her collection on the road—does that mean she's in trouble?

Why is Lauren Conrad going on a "clothing tour"? What is a "clothing tour"?
—Morgan, Dayton, Ohio

It's a fancy way of saying that Lauren is finally getting up off of her C-list buttocks to sell her clothes.

For the blissfully uninformed—and how I envy you this moment—here's the news: Over the next few weeks, Conrad will visit four college towns, including Boston, Atlanta and Austin, to host fashion shows featuring her collection.

"Lauren Conrad will be attending each event," Bryan Carbone, marketing director for Campus Solutions Inc., which is helping to market the tour, tells me.

So why a Janet Jackson-style tour? I suspect a good deal of comeuppance...

A few months back, Lauren debuted her clothes in Kitson, the celebrity-friendly paparazzi-magnet boutique on Robertson Boulevard. The boutique sank an estimated $100,000 into orders. Conrad was later seen on at least three occasions visiting Robertson Boulevard, but, Kitson owner Fraser Ross recalls to me, she never once agreed to a public in-store appearance, visited the store or even volunteered to meet with sales staff to educate them about her brand. She even hosted her launch party at a rival store.

Without Lauren promoting her clothes, the Kitson sales staff didn't much feel the obligation to sell it, and eventually Kitson dumped it for poor performance, Ross tells me. Now that she's ready to tour, Ross observes, "At least she's learning. It's a great move. And if she ever wants to come back to us, saying, 'Look, I made a mistake, let's do a relaunch with a personal appearance,' we would absolutely pick it up again."

Yay, right? Maybe. Conrad's holiday dresses ring in at about $250—perfect for a student budget...somewhere.

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