Dubious fashion brand link-up of the day

I have to admire Stella's straight face as she talks about designing a current account card for private bank Coutts & Co. I'm all for linking designers with brands (in a clever way) but occasionally I think some of these deals are a bridge too far. For example the Julien Macdonald deoderant for Sure that appeared on my desk a while back (although it is wonderful to tell people that i'm wearing Julien Macdonald on my pits). Call me a jaded cynic but I am a bit dubious over whether Stella actually went anywhere near the design for the card. What next Alexander McQueen's personal pension scheme? Tom Ford's mortgage plan? Pur-lease!

From Vogue: NOW that's shopping in style. Private bank Coutts & Co has commissioned Stella McCartney to design its latest current account card – following a design for the Coutts World super premium card by Ozwald Boateng in 2004. The design, we're told "combines the intricacies found on banknotes and on the Coutts cheque book with aspects of the British countryside". A translucent Coutts signature can also been seen when the card is held up to the light - in a reference to the watermark on a banknote. "It was refreshing to be asked by Coutts to design something I have never done before," said Stella. "It is a design area that has been overlooked in the past and it's about time you get to spend your hard earned money with an account card that looks good!" Sarah Deaves, chief executive of Coutts & Co, is clearly thrilled with the new appointment, too. "We are very excited to be working with Stella McCartney who has brought imagination and creativity to a key component of our current account," she said. "The new card has been designed to complement our "famous" Coutts cheque book – we hope that our clients will enjoy using it!"