Is There a Ceiling on Sydney Sweeney’s Selling Power?

Brands have enlisted Sydney Sweeney to sell everything from jeans to perfume to mayonnaise to soap made out of her own bath water. Now, she’s hoping that she can use her marketing prowess to boost her own brand.

Depending on how you measure success, she’s had either a strong or stumbling start.

On Tuesday, the “Euphoria” actress announced the launch of her lingerie line, Syrn (a play on the word siren) which as of now is an 11-piece collection of bras, corsets and panties. The brand’s offerings will be divided into four “personas” — seductress, romantic, playful and comfy. The seductress drop was the first.

Sweeney launching her own lingerie label seems like a natural fit: Not only is she one of Hollywood’s most in-demand brand ambassadors, she also has one of the most talked-about bodies in the world, too. For a star who is clearly business inclined, it makes sense that she’d find a way to capitalise on that interest.

The execution, however, wasn’t quite so seamless. It started with a video of Sweeney climbing the Hollywood sign, covering the landmark with a chain of tied-together bras, first posted by TMZ on Jan. 26. The stunt grabbed attention, but commenters on social media, at least, didn’t seem amused.

Defacing a landmark, albeit temporarily, was always going to be controversial. But the timing felt off. Just two days prior, ICU nurse Alex Pretti was shot and killed by federal immigration enforcement officers in Minneapolis — the second such fatality in the city this month alone following the death of Renée Good on Jan. 7. Americans, including much of Syrn’s target audience, were still reeling from the weekend’s events when Sweeney’s stunt went viral.

On social media, commenters — even some of Sweeney’s own followers — questioned the choice.

“I get [you’re] promoting your new brand, but this is the wrong time,” one wrote, while another told her to “read the room.” Several others questioned the legality of scaling the sign, including the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, which owns the sign and said it was investigating the incident.

Sweeney, of course, is no stranger to controversy. Just six months ago, her American Eagle “great jeans” ad went viral after critics accused the spot of having racist undertones. Around the same time, it was revealed that Sweeney is a registered Republican in the state of Florida, highly unusual for a young star in overwhelmingly liberal Hollywood.

Still, there’s a long history of the public turning on highly-exposed young female stars, from Anne Hathaway to Jennifer Lawrence. But so far, each scandal only seemed to make Sweeney, and her brand partners, stronger. American Eagle’s stock price has doubled in the half a year since its release, and in the third quarter, revenue rose 6 percent year on year. Sweeney’s ad doesn’t deserve all the credit, but it’s undeniable it thrust into the spotlight a brand that has at times struggled to build a distinct identity.

Translating all that chatter into sales for Syrn is a different matter, particularly in this politically charged moment. Syrn’s website lists all of its products as sold out, which is to be expected when a brand gets this amount of attention at launch. The real test is whether those customers come back.

Syrn’s release came with the usual promises about building a different kind of lingerie brand, one rooted in self-expression and empowerment, rather than the male gaze. In a cover story, Sweeney told Cosmopolitan that she wants “Syrn to stand for the power of choice.” That sentiment, however, was largely dwarfed by her comments on her decision not to wade into politics.

Sweeney is entering a category that’s seen its fair share of celebrity founders. And while Kim Kardashian’s Skims has become a major success, nabbing a $5 billion valuation last November, Rihanna’s Savage x Fenty has faded from the conversation. Lingerie is a notoriously tricky category to get right given the complexities around bra sizes and fit — Reddit and X users have already questioned if Sweeney can make a bra that fits, claiming that she is often pictured in ill-fitting ones herself. (She did address those critiques to Cosmopolitan, saying, “If I wouldn’t wear it, I wouldn’t want to make it.”)

Sweeney is clearly a lightning rod for attention — the internet always seems to have an opinion on what she’s doing, whether it’s a campaign she’s fronting or a movie that underperforms at the box office — time will tell if that will prove to be an advantage or a hindrance.