Smart celebrities know how the fame game works - one minute they’re on the cover of GQ wearing nothing but a snake, the next they’re collecting coupons to get 25p off their butter. So how can they avoid this descent into a frugal, anonymous existence? By opening a business of course. In our first instalment of entrepreneurial celebs (yes, there were so many it warrants two features) we take a look at budding side projects as well as those who are already a success. We’re saving those who sank like the Titanic for Part II.
Mischa Barton: Mischa Barton Boutique
It’s nice to see the former star of The OC – essentially the noughties rehash of Beverly Hills 90210 -getting back on her feet after six years of uncertainty which an arrest for driving under the influence and a breakdown leading to a sectioning. She’s actually been dipping her toe into the world of fashion since 2008; one of her first collections was a range of headbands that cost upwards of £50. Now she has her very own boutique in Old Spitalfields Market, described as having an “Art Deco Vintage feel” which is “the perfect space for Mischa to launch her inspired love of vintage finds”, and sells retro-inspired accessories, clothing, cosmetics, handbags and clichés.
Pete Doherty: Doherty Martin & Co
Whatever could Pete Doherty’s shop in Camden’s Stables Market sell? Posters? Discarded handwritten lyrics? Guitars perhaps? Not at all, for instead of sticking to conventional rock star merchandise, Doherty has decided to sell some of his more bizarre personal effects, in other words, the crap he felt like clearing out of his flat which he now displays here with the boldness of a confidence trickster. And so you will find a wooden box containing tatty spoons (the very same ones he cooked up heroin with?), and messages in bottle, written by the man himself for £100 a piece. Oh, and his cigarette butts are for sale too. If only the rumours of there being fag butts once smoked by Amy Winehouse were true, as we’d really like to see Doherty standing at the entrance kitted out like a 1940s cigarette girl.
Elizabeth Hurley: No 11 Cadogan Gardens
Hurley was once co-owner of this luxury hotel in Knightsbridge, which has become a popular retreat for those with bulging wallets. We can only imagine Hurley sold her shares while her stock was up, as she’s always been a pro at managing her career, whether it’s ensuring she’s on the front cover of all the papers with that safety pin dress or making a big deal over her teenage years as a Basingstoke punk. Plus she designs swimwear and has appeared in two Austin Powers movies.
\n\nGuy Ritchie: The Punchbowl
The man no longer known as Mr Madonna, much to his relief, bought this Mayfair pub together with Madge when they were still married in 2008. The 300 year old boozer quickly became a celebrity favourite thanks to the pulling power of the director of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and his super star wife. Although they divorced later that year, Madonna agreed he could keep the pub as part of their settlement. The pub has since been sold, and Madonna now divides her time between New York and London.
Professor Green: INK
Stephen Mandelson, better known as Professor Green, is quite the entrepreneur. Aside from his successful career as a rapper, he’s endorsed sportswear brand Puma and energy drink Relentless, launched his own beer called “Remedy”, and now co-owns this West End nightclub, which is so-called because of his love of tattoos. He also muddled with everyone’s expectations when he got together with Made in Chelsea’s Millie Mackintosh, whose great granddad and great-uncle created Quality Street. News of a range of urban-inspired sweets (we haven’t quite figured out what those are yet, but trust us, it’s coming) are expected any day now.
\n\nRobert De Niro: Nobu
How did Boris Becker manage to have sex with someone on the stairs of Nobu without anyone noticing? Prior to his confession it was assumed the romp had taken place in a broom cupboard, which at least guarantees some privacy. In any case, this is the kind of fun and games that famous people get up to at Nobu, which must be netting co-founder Robert De Niro a fortune, as there are now 27 of them worldwide.
Kelly Brook: Steam & Rye
No one knows about the brevity of fame more than models do, and while Kelly Brook is still doing a
good job of trading on her curvy figure, investing in this soon-to-open Prohibition-era influenced bar
and restaurant is a clever move. Not bad for the girl who started out fluffing her lines on Channel 4’s
Big Breakfast.
Leslie Ash: So.uk, JuJu
Along with her ex-footballer hubby Lee Chapman, actress Leslie Ash has been focusing on the restaurant industry for the last decade. Their first project was the now defunct Teatro in the West End, which had input from Gordon Ramsay in the kitchen. Next it was So.uk, a North African-inspired bar and restaurant in Clapham, where Ash was born; more recently they launched the ridiculously named JuJu, a swanky champagne bar in Chelsea, both of these ventures are thriving. They’ve certainly got plenty to invest, as Ash was paid a record £5 million in compensation by the NHS in 2008 after contracting an infection similar to MRSA while in hospital four years previously. The figure was agreed as it took into account her loss of earnings and that she may never act again. The following year she landed a role in Holby City.
