She’s putting the price tag of damages between $15-20 million, an amount which we assume was derived from a complex mathematical formula of how much Kardashian would have charged Old Navy to appear in a national campaign and a dartboard.

Kim Kardashian (left) and Melissa Molinaro (right)

Melissa Molinaro, the model in the Old Navy commercial does bear a striking resemblance to Kardashian; enough of a resemblance, in fact, for Kardashian’s ex-boyfriend Reggie Bush to strike up a new relationship with Molinaro. We’re guessing that probably added a multiple of at least 2x to whatever number the “I would have done it for___” and dartboard formula originally produced for Kardashian.

Apparently a tweet sent by Old Navy saying “Breaking News!! @CBSNEWS reports that Old Navy’s Super CUTE star looks like @kimkardashian. #LOL. What do you think?” also rubbed Kardashian the wrong way, because she felt they were trying to generate extra publicity via her Twitter account, and it’s well established that the Kardashians charge a pretty penny for tweets.

While this sounds like a ridiculous lawsuit on its (trademark, Kim Kardashian) face, we do have to wonder if Kardashian may have something in it. Old Navy never promoted the model as Kim Kardashian, or implied that she was anything but a lookalike, but if the way they promoted her confused people into thinking that Kim Kardashian was representing Old Navy there may be some legal hook which could result in an out of court settlement. An out of court settlement much smaller than $15-20 million, by the way.

If Kardashian does actually take the kase (sorry, any Kardashian story requires a gratuitous “k” somewhere) to court, we suspect Old Navy’s legal team will argue that without making it seem that the model was actually Kim Kardashian, they were well within their rights to parody the reality star. Not to mention, it seems more than a bit cruel to kill a model’s career because she happens to look like you. Depending on how far this carries on, Molinaro might have a case against Kardashian for discouraging clients from hiring her because they don’t want to end up on the receiving end of a lawsuit.

As for Old Navy’s ad/publicity team? We suspect they’ll end up getting a pat on the back for all of  extra attention Kim Kardashian herself will drive by suing over the Kim Kardashianesque model.

Celebrities love fashion, fashion loves celebrities, and as we’ve previously mentioned celeb supported online fashion startups are becoming the new celebrity clothing line.

Demand Media announced a partnership with Tyra Banks last June to launch an “interactive web property, an engaging online video series and unique mobile applications” that “closely supporting her core mission to expand the definition of beauty.”

That partnership also made Banks a shareholder in Demand Media, who recently had a successful IPO. The web property portion of the arrangement is scheduled for a March 15th launch. Already, there’s a Nowness style pre-launch – obviously more mass than high end – with a daily question available to people who connect to the site with their Facebook account.

Perhaps more interesting than the site is the deal itself, which could make Banks one of the highest netting online fashion startup entrepreneurs. While Kim Kardashian probably does have some role in choosing which shoes are available on ShoeDazzle, and it’s not beyond belief that Kate Bosworth gives the okay on some of the selections on JewelMint, there’s nothing in SEC filings to suggest either is a significant shareholder.

While Banks’ 375,000 warrants to buy Demand Media shares at $12* don’t make her the biggest financial winner in the Demand IPO {Business Insider} they would net her company more than $4.7 million at Demand’s current share price of $24.55. That’s without anything even launched.

Currently enrolled in classes at Harvard Business School, Banks has quite a bit of media experience, of course. so it makes sense that she’ll net more for her  endorsement than Kardashian or Bosworth. It’s probably even more of a win for Demand, who insists they aren’t a content farm, but are still struggling with a perception that the machine generated topics used to spur writers and take advantage of easy to target search terms result in low quality pieces, bordering on spam.

America’s Next Top Model and the now defunct Tyra show may not be Masterpiece Theater when it comes to television content, but they’re both extremely successful: the former has spawned 20 international editions, and the latter earned two daytime Emmys. If nothing else, Banks has proven herself to be effective at making fashion and style topics entertaining for a mass audience. Even if Demand’s bots can do as good a job at selecting those topics, it certainly can’t hurt to attach a human face to a project where the hope is that the audience is there not because they’re searching for something, but because they already know what they’re looking for.

Build that, and there’s probably a good chance the search spiders will come back.

*Post updated to reflect changes in number of warrants owned by Banks’ company, BEI, from 750,000 to 375,000 and an excercise price change from $6 to $12 as shown in a recent SEC filing by Demand Media.

Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Foursquare Oh My!

Our technology-infused culture has become over-saturated and overwhelming, don’t you think? It’s not easy sifting through the messages, texts, check ins, emails and tweets that bombard us every minute of every day.

A panel of in-the-know celebrities and industry insiders gathered at the Hearst Art & Culture Hub for Social Media Week in New York City yesterday to discuss the techniques to utilizing today’s social technology in the most productive and beneficial ways possible.

The panel was moderated by Laura Brown, Hearst’s Features/Special Projects Director, who explores the role and growing popularity of social styling and social media in today’s digital world. The panel consisted of celebrity Denise Richards, Popeater.com Entertainment Columnist and Blogger Rob Shuter, indie fashion blogger BryanBoy, Lancome CEO Kerry Diamond and Leandra Medine of Man Repeller.

Almost as soon as it began, the discussion turned to the social media queen herself, Kim Kardashian. Celebrities like Kardashian use social media tools to connect with the public, gain exposure and drive their personal business initiatives. When launching her new fragrance Kardashian used her twitter followers as a focus group when she posted the pictures of two possible bottle choices, asking her thousands of followers, “What do you think?”  Whether or not the one voted best is the one chosen, twitter was a crucial tool for Kardashian in maximizing her influence and allowing her to hear what her fans want first-hand.

Denise Richards noted that it’s important to “have a goal and stay true to yourself” when connecting. Although she maintains everything she types is legitimate and sincere, misleading tweets seeming more contrived than genuine are streaming from the twitter feeds of many celebrities. We recently covered the topic of endorsement deals and contracts regularly stipulating stars to use social networking sites for brand and product-related advertisement. Kim Kardashian denies ever being compensated, but how likely is it that her deal for Reebok Easy Tone sneakers had nothing to do with her tweeting pics of her wearing the shoes at the gym saying “I love my Reebok Easy Tones” and including a link to buy them?

You may not know this, but the FCC does require tweets that are being monetarily compensated to include “AD” at the end of the message to clarify intent, as to not mislead the public. We rarely see this appearing on celeb messages even though law requires it.

Independent fashion blogger BryanBoy had a more grassroots approach to broaden exposure and engage an audience. He says that being himself, documenting his day-to-day life and sharing his love for fashion and style is what first made him famous. However sharing his personal dreams and encouraging others to do the same is what has skyrocketed him into the limelight. So much so that Marc Jacobs designed a handbag after him in his 2008/2009 Fall Collection. His success-achieving advice is to put  forth your true self and it will attract desired results. A big topic of the day was the emergence and acceptance of original bloggers like BryanBoy and Tavi, who are essentially “playing fashion editor” through social sites, offering styling tips, fashion advice and even trend forecasting. Social media sites have served as an unmatched platform for amateurs to build a trusted brand for themselves in the industry.

In essence many of the panel members shared personal experiences that hit on many of the same points. Lancome CEO Kerry Diamond shared her work with Pee-Wee Herman and his new “comeback.” What we already know and love about Pee-Wee is his unpredictability and crazy energy right? They launched a Twitter campaign in New York where the 80’s star would hop around popular locales in Manhattan and tweet his whereabouts to fans on twitter, encouraging all to come see him. It was a hit. People showed up all over the city to see Pee-Wee, even the New York Times stopped by to see what it was all about. Introducing Pee-Wee to Twitter was a cautious, well-orchestrated event that engaged his fans and made his return fun and spontaneous. Knowing Pee-Wee Herman as a brand and using the internet to broadcast is what made the launch so successful.

Whether it be from a business or personal perspective, a strong content strategy or product development strategy are key building a real-time measurement of branding success through social media. Joining such networks requires transparency, accessibility, and a strong self-identity.

With millions of followers, stars like Kim Kardashian and big name brands like Reebok are making big bucks using Twitter as a means of advertising. It has been widely rumored that endorsement deals between businesses and celebrities actually contractually stipulate a certain number of product-related tweets per day.

Kim’s deal for Reebok Easy Tone sneakers has her tweeting pics of her wearing the shoes at the gym saying “I love my Reebok Easy Tones” and even including a link to buy them. She also recently tweeted “Where is there a Carl’s Jr in the valley? I’m seriously craving that salad!” In what we’re sure is just a coincidence, Kim is featured in some Carl’s Jr. ads aired this year. Now if that’s not obvious enough actress Melissa Joan Hart actually admitted that one of her contracts enforced a minimum of six promotional tweets per day. {The Insider}

Sandra Smith of Fox Business Network says that Kim’s sister Kourtney is also reportedly in on the money-making tweets, raking in about five to ten thousand per tweet. Looking at the Sponsored Tweets celeb list, Khloe  is the Kardashian offering the best bargain at a mere $2941.25 per tweet. “You’ve got Lindsay Lohan and a large number of celebrities that are reportedly getting involved in these tweets for pay,” Smith says. “Lindsay Lohan arguably has far fewer followers than some of the other big celebrities, but she’s still reportedly getting paid big bucks to participate.” According to Sponsored Tweets, the exact figure is $2985 per tweet.

As annoying as it is that someone can make what some people earn for 2 weeks (or more) of work in a minute and less than 140 characters, it does make sense. Twitter allows instant advertising to millions of people through the likeness of  their favorite celebs. Occasionally they do use the ability to reach out for good however. Kim and Khloe Kardashian, Jennifer Hudson and Lady Gaga were part of a recent no tweeting campaign that raised $1 million, and longtime Twitter celeb users Ashton Kutcher and wife Demi Moore use it to help fight sex trafficking and child sex slavery as well as the American AIDS Foundation. Ben Stiller uses his 140 characters  to raise education awareness helping build temporary schools for children in need.

A social network, pop star and socialite top popularity lists. Stop us if you've heard this before.

YouTube, which rose from 7th most visited site in 2009 the 5th most visited in 2010, helps make up the 9.85% of all US internet visits that Google properties claim. While Facebook hasn’t surpassed total Google owned/controlled traffic yet, they aren’t too far off at 8.93%. Yahoo!, often seen as the big engine that couldn’t, still represents 8.12% of all US visits with their various properties including email, which is actually a more popular destination than the Yahoo! homepage.

What surprised us though, is actually the site that traded places with YouTube: MySpace. The site is down off of last year’s 5th place to number 7, but still ranking. Yes, we thought that everyone had abandoned the site with the strange new logo. Frankly, we were pretty sure the people running MySpace were abandoning ship when they seemingly threw in the towel and partnered with Facebook, but it looks like some of you just can’t say goodbye to sparkly glitter gifs and 2001-style clip art.

Speaking of sparkly, glittering things, silver covered magazine mover Kim Kardashian edged out Oprah (who does a pretty good job of moving magazines also) for the title of top searched personality. Rush Limbaugh, Miley Cyrus and Glenn Beck are numbers 3, 4, and 5 respectively. That sounds like the start of a party game where you have to put random words into a sentence that makes sense. We’ll let you know when we come up with one.

Moving on to musicians, butcher calendar girl Lady Gaga dominated searches and beat out the teenage endorsement dream that is Justin Bieber for number one music personality search. Eminem, Taylor Swift and late King of Pop Michael Jackson were 3, 4, and 5 respectively.

Though it’s not unusual to see a Kardashian of supermarket weeklies like InTouch, US Weekly or Life & Style, we wondered if high brow fashion readers would respond favorably to recently installed editor Stefano Tonchi’s choice of cover models outside the usual cover girl choices.

Yes Kim, magazine editors agree, it is about you

Readers responded, and how! The issue which featured a silver sprayed Kardashian, with stars of the art world as a supporting cast was the second best selling issue of the year, tied with March cover girl Megan Fox. The magazine moving doesn’t stop there: Kim Kardashian covered issues of Allure and Shape were best sellers for the respective publications. In fact, the June issue of Shape that Kardashian appeared on was the magazine’s best selling issue of the year. {WWD via Jezebel} Granted Shape isn’t exactly a fashion magazine, but June has never been a particularly explosive month for magazine sales so perhaps it’s an even stronger indicator of the most infamous Kardashian’s selling power.

Just a guess, but there were probably a number of Kardashian fans who purchased W for the first and last time when the reality TV star appeared. We won’t be holding our collective breath for a turn on the front of Vogue (unless Blake Lively drops the ball somehow), but the lure of stronger newsstand sales will probably mean more Kardashian covers in 2011. While the spotlight is shining brightest on Kim, sisters Kourtney and Khloe are frequently part of brand Kardashian promotions and half-sister Kendall Jenner is pursuing modeling which means it probably won’t be long before you’re seeing more members of the Kardashian/Jenner clan for the magazines where Kim would really be a stretch (think parenting magazines for Kourtney, teen magazines for Kendall). And for each Kim cover, the value of her association with projects like e-commerce startup Shoedazzle seems to increase in step.

Behind it all is mom/manager Kris Jenner, and while you may not be a fan of the media monster she created, you have to admire the media monster she’s created.

Celebrities have had varying degrees of success and involvement at each stage, but increasingly there’s an additional part to add to the equation: strike a deal for your own e-commerce venture. Making a shoe of the month, or necklace of the month club may not be the most revolutionary of ideas, but for celebrities looking to capitalize on their image it looks like the future of fashion endorsements is moving online.

Kim Kardashian and Kate Bosworth may not compete for the same roles in Hollywood, but online they’re competing for a similar audience with a similar model, albeit with different products.

Kardashian has started by going after those who want to receive a new pair of shoes each month. Shoedazzle was founded by Brian Lee and Robert Shapiro (who first founded LegalZoom, with Kardashian listed as a co-founder and chief stylist. How much involvement she actually has with the site beyond lending her name as a spokesperson is unclear. To be fair, most celebrity fashion brands work in the same way. Regardless of the depth of her involvement behind the scenes, the site which launched in 2009 raised $13 million in April and was reportedly profitable at that time. The $13 million round in April is on top of a $7 million round bringing the total amount raised by the company to $20 million.

Bosworth and her stylist Cher Coulter have gone down the accessories route (also with a monthly selection model) with BeachMint, a company started by MySpace co-founder Josh Berman and serial entrepreneur Diego Berdakin. Jewelmint, which launched just this past October, was the first site out of the BeachMint stable. Apparently, investors felt it was proof enough of BeachMint’s commerce strategy and the company closed a $10 million round in December, bringing their total funding to $15 million. Unlike Shoedazzle, that entire amount is unlikely to be spent on a single site, but rather building out the celebrity backed commerce model.

World of Alfa, which we first covered in a post on online custom clothing companies, ditches the item a month model entirely in favor of a mass customization model for men’s shirts. Founded by brothers Patrick and Boris Kodjoe, actor Boris is the face of the brand, which Patrick insists is a more personal endeavor than your traditional celebrity line. “Boris was not interested in a traditional endorsement of someone elseâ€s vision. Alfa is something close to his heart. Alfa is our personal vision of what is possible – a legitimate fashion revolution.”

The really interesting part of the story is yet to come though, and that’s whether celebrity is sufficient to build an online business around. Not unlike traditional celebrity fashion lines, it’s likely to still be heavily dependent on people who don’t attract any attention on a red carpet. For Jessica Simpson, whose brand is on track to drive $1 billion in sales, a large part of the success has been in partnering with someone who had the ability to ensure above average production quality. Vince Camuto, who founded Nine West and is responsible for the launch of footwear collections for Tory Burch and BCBG among others, may not be a household name; but, his industry experience has undoubtedly been a reason for the brand’s success. Our best guess is that online ventures will follow a similar path.

While the celebrities may help in attracting fans and new users, it’s still going to be up to the entrepreneurs behind the sites to make them a success. It wouldn’t surprise us if sites who’ve already established themselves (think Gilt, for example) tap into a bit of star power for new features and products if the celebrity co-founder model proves to be a successful marketing strategy.

Kim, Khloe, Kourtney, mom Kris Jenner, Lamar Odom and the whole Kardashian-Jenner clan are decked out Dynasty style in sharp suits and gorgeous gowns. The only thing that would make it more over-the-top glamorous is Joan Collins pushing someone into a fountain after the shoot. Baby Mason (Kourtney’s son) is even off to a stylish start in a custom made suit, and not including the fact that it’s the holly, jolly time of year where we try to save the snark, everyone looks so lovely that it’s hard to find a negative thing to say.

If you’re lobbying for something a bit more stylish than the matching Christmas sweaters or plaid dress for your family greeting this year, this is definitely Exhibit A in supporting your case.

Khloe Kardashian has a gallery of Kardashian Christmas card from years past on her blog.

Welcome back, ladies.

In a fundraising effort on World AIDS day (Decmber 1st), several celebrity tweeters including Lady Gaga, Kim Kardashian, Alicia Keys, Daphne Guiness, Justin Timberlake and Jennifer Hudson declared themselves digitally dead until $1 million was raised to support Keep a Child Alive, a charity that provides food and medical care to children with AIDS in Africa and India.

Usher jumped the gun with 4 tweets this weekend {Dlisted} but as of today the campaign hit the target goal of $1 million.

Lots of people thought the digital silent treatment was a strange way to go, and in fact half of the $1 million was donated by billionaire Stewart Rahr.

Gawker wondered if Kim Kardashian would stay off of Twitter forever, and while celebrity tweets have been assigned a commercial value, it didn’t seem like many people wanted them back enough to pay for the privilege – even if doing so would support a worthwhile cause. As much as we can joke about the uselessness of most tweets, it probably didn’t help that the stars couldn’t tweet to remind their followers to contribute.

Twitter may not have proven to be the biggest bargaining chip when it comes to fundraising, but $500,000 in 6 days (the amount fans donated before Rahr’s contribution) isn’t insignificant.

On a positive note: the heavy handed airbrushing makes 2 of the 3 sisters nearly unrecognizable, so they should be able to walk away from this completely unscathed.

Considering that only 250 people purchased the pre-paid Kardashian Kard MasterCard, there may not be too many tears shed. Amid a nasty letter from Connecticut’s attorney general and an uproar from consumer groups over the high fees associated with the card, the Kardashian sisters have decided to pull their endorsement. {LA Times}

Critics had described the card as “one of the worst financial products ever introduced,” and judging by the slow response it seems consumers agreed.

The card came with a $9.95 activation fee, $7.95 monthly fees, a $6 cancellation fee and a charge of $1.50 to call customer service. While airlines would surely be impressed with how many extra fees the sisters K were able to pile on, threats of investigation by regulators and criticism from finance gurus proved to be more negative attention than the Kardashians were anticipating and they’ve decided to pull their names and images from the card. The issuing bank, University National Bank, will keep the outstanding 250 cards available for 30 days before officially ending the Kardashian experiment with financial products.

In a statement, an attorney for the women said “the negative spotlight turned on the Kardashians as a result of the Attorney General’s comments and actions threatens everything for which they have worked.”

Let’s see – sex tape, DUI,sometimes questionable reality show, but a shady credit card is what threatens the carefully crafted wholesome image we’ve all subscribed to and puts cracks in the foundation of the great Kardashian empire? That’s quite a piece of plastic.