Designer deal cuts both ways
The much-publicised deal between UK design star Stella McCartney and Target will help boost the Australian department store's international fashion credibility, it has admitted.
Target corporate affairs manager Deborah Johnson said while the Designers for Target program had seen successful collaborations with renowned Australian high fashion labels including Gwendolynne Burkin, Tina Kalivas, Alice McColl and T.L. Wood, the introduction of an overseas designer had taken the initiative to a new level.
"While this is certainly a continuation of the 'great style for great value' philosophy that informed past Designers for Target ranges it will be more wide reaching. The Stella McCartney range will be available in around 100 stores including regional outlets such as Bendigo and Ballarat [Victoria], as compared to previous initiatives which involved 30 stores the first time, then 60 stores."
The range would also be available in sizes up to 16 and was designed to appeal to a broad range of customers from 18 to 58-year-olds, she said, adding the broad size range was not intended as a spur to the current debate on sizing and body image.
"It's really about Target being a practical retailer that looks after its customers."
The 42-piece Stella McCartney for Target collection - which goes on sale in selected stores from March 12 - will include a trench coat, tailored jacket and pants, shirts and tees, a day dress and an embroidered cocktail frock. Prices range from $39.99 for tees to $199.99 for the trench coat.
For her part, despite her reported contention that Australian women were "bloody lucky" to be able to access her brand through Target, the UK designer famous for dressing A-list fashion royalty including celebrities Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Moss and Madonna would undoubtedly benefit from the wide reaching penetration of her brand into a new market encompassing a broad "high-street" audience.
McCartney's only other such collaboration, a limited-edition range for European chain H&M in 2005, caused a spate of checkout tussles across the UK as customers swarmed stores to obtain designer chic at high street prices.