Italian fashion house Versace SpA is practically synonymous with celebrity ads. Last year, Demi Moore lounged in a cleavage-baring halter dress; Madonna perched on a desk in a tight taupe shirtdress.

For fall, in a move likely to be widely watched in the fashion hothouse, Versace is planning another ad move: using professional models.

But not just any models.

Christy Turlington, Kate Moss and Carolyn Murphy grace the new Versace ads in September issues of Vogue, Harper's Bazaar and Elle, wearing minidresses, A-line coats, black leggings and patent-leather boots.

Louis Vuitton, owned by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, also is returning to supermodels, after relying on actresses Jennifer Lopez, Christina Ricci, Scarlett Johansson and Uma Thurman in recent years. Gisele Bundchen stars in its spring ad campaign; Moss, Naomi Campbell and relative newcomer Polish-born Daria Werbowy appear in the fall campaign, launching this month.

The change is also evident at Vogue, where the August cover features a pregnant Linda Evangelista, the first model to appear on the cover after 14 straight months of celebrities.

The pendulum's swing back to models reflects what some fashion marketers are calling "celebrity fatigue": A-list entertainers are so overexposed that "there is a major lack of trust," says Milton Pedraza, chief executive of the Luxury Institute, a New York consulting firm.

It also underscores the tension between serious fashion magazines and celebrity books like People, USWeekly and InStyle that increasingly feature pages of red carpet shots of celebrities sporting designer fashions.

The return of the supermodel also follows some celebrity-ad belly-flops. This summer's multimillion-dollar campaign for St. John Knits Inc. starring Angelina Jolie hasn't plumped up the brand's sales and may even have alienated core customers, marketing experts say. Gap Inc.'s three-season contract with Sarah Jessica Parker, which started in 2004, seemed like a smart move at first, but by the time the campaign's third season rolled around, the "Sex and the City" TV series had ended, and consumers grew tired of the ads. A Gap spokeswoman declined to comment.

Of course, Moss, Evangelista and other supermodels are celebrities in their own right — a fact not lost on Nikon Corp., which chose Moss for its digital-camera ads precisely because of "all the buzz that comes along with being Kate," according to Danielle Korn, an executive vice president at Interpublic Group's McCann Erickson, New York, which produced the ads. Tabloid papers chronicled Moss' recent drug problems, which led to the cancellation of the model's contracts with Hennes & Mauritz AB's H&M stores and Chanel SA.

Still, style experts say models may convey more fashion gravitas and sophistication than screen actresses. "They're specifically related to fashion," says Sally Singer, fashion news features director at Vogue, which mostly used models on its cover until 2000, when the magazine started featuring mostly actresses, partly because readers were identifying with celebrities more.

Others see an unmistakable climate change. "We're seeing a return to the focus on the product rather than just the image," says David Wolfe, a New York fashion consultant and creative director of the Doneger Group. "People have decided that when they buy the image, they are not really getting anything."

The shift back to models also involves practical considerations. A new model may make as little as $5,000 to $10,000 a day, industry executive say. Supermodels can get $1 million for two campaigns — spring and fall — for the same client in a year. Actresses, as a rule, can command several million dollars for a single campaign. Celebrities often demand more creative control and are difficult to schedule.

The new Versace campaign, completed in two days and shot by the fashion photographer Mario Testino, cost around $500,000 to produce, the company says. (For Versace, that actually exceeded the cost of some of its recent campaigns featuring Madonna, Demi Moore and Halle Berry, who posed for nominal fees, free clothes or charitable contributions.)

Models also can be easier to work with, says Ivan Bart, senior vice president of IMG Models, which represents actresses and models such as Moss, Carolyn Murphy and Shalom Harlow. "They're professionally trained to be photographed incredibly well," he says.

And models are also more timeless. "People are getting afraid that actors are only as hot as their last movie or TV show," says Faith Kates, founder of Next Model Management, New York, who expects her firm to see a 15 percent to 20 percent increase in revenue this year as a result of supermodels' return. Besides, she adds, "models don't show up with an entourage."

Luxury labels aren't swearing off celebrities cold turkey. Dressing stars for their red-carpet appearances remains a fundamental tactic.

Interestingly, the fashion industry has shied away from models for so long that advertisers seeking a well-known face have to go back to supermodels like Turlington (age 37) or Campbell (36) or Moss (32), says Sean Patterson, president of Wilhelmina Models, New York. "The industry hasn't allowed a new set of supermodels to be created," he says.