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Lagerfeld at the Shopping Mall
And other tales of - shhhh!- couture clothing designers slumming in retail
jk840@nyu.edu
More designers are creating clothing lines for retail chains, such as Target and H&M, making once out-of-reach designer apparel available to nearly everyone.
"Designers are recognizing that customers are cross-shopping," said Kathy Bradley-Riley, senior vice president of merchandising for the Doneger Group, which analyzes fashion industry trends.
She means that the same customer might buy a pricey sweater at Barneys one day, and a T-shirt at Forever21 the next. Shoppers are now comfortable mixing designer fashion with fun throw-away fashion, she said.
The cheap designer lines are meant to draw customers who recognize the value of high fashion, but can't afford the high prices. And they offer designers financial rewards, and greater reach.
Target and H&M, two retailers known for inexpensive clothing, are leading the trend. They've formed deals with clothing designers to create limited-edition collections that sell exclusively in their stores under a designer's name.
Designers are realizing that to maximize exposure and income, targeting a different customer at a retail chain can be profitable.
"The mass level gets them a lot of exposure and marketing," said Bradley-Riley.
Target launched a GO International program, which features guest designers from around the world, to create limited-edition fashion collections. The lines sell for 60-90 day periods. International designers such as Luella Bartley, Tara Jarmon and Sophie Albou for Paul & Joe have been featured in Target stores around the United States this year.
"We saw an opportunity in our young girl's/young women's assortment to offer our guests more cutting-edge choices that were still trend-right and affordable compared to traditional designer prices," said Target spokesman Joshua Thomas.
Right now, Target is featuring a holiday collection by the young New York designer Behnaz Sarafpour. It includes taffeta party dresses, charmeuse blouses, and faux-fur jackets, and accessories like brocade clutches and jeweled headbands.
Bargain-hunters can pick up Sarafpour's short satin or velvet skirts for $25-$40. On the runway, a Sarafpour skirt costs well over $1,000.
Thomas declined to give specifics on how such clothes were selling, except to say that the fashions "have resonated extremely well" with customers.
H&M is pursing a similar strategy. A few years ago the low-cost clothing chain approached Karl Lagerfeld, who has designed for Chanel, Chloe, Fendi and his own label. It subsequently offered a Lagerfeld line, of form-fitting knits, ruffled skirts and silk tops, all executed with the same elegance and flattering fit found in Lagerfeld's runway designs.
"The collaboration was a good way for us to show our business idea: fashion and quality at best price," said H&M spokesman Jenni Tapper-Hoël. "Fashion and design don't have to be a question of price."
The Lagerfeld collaboration was a hit, and H&M followed with a line by British designer Stella McCartney, and this fall, by the Dutch designers Viktor & Rolf.
"Viktor & Rolf's style, with a modern twist on classics, fits very well into the trends for autumn with a more tailored look," Tapper-Hoël said.
Viktor & Rolf's eccentric past runway collections include a sleep themed show featuring models with pillows in their hair, and one in which everything was upside-down (including shirts designed to be worn as pants). This fall's runway collection featured metal-dipped skirts and corsets.
"Viktor & Rolf items from the runway are not always the most wearable of pieces," said Heather White, fashion assistant at W magazine. "I feel that their collections are usually very artfully done."
Viktor & Rolf's line for H&M promises to be tamer.
"I've got some of the pieces in my fashion closet at W that V&R will have in their line at H&M, and it's all totally wearable," White said. "It's a little edgier and pays a bit closer look at the details than what you might normally find at H&M."
From tuxedos for men and women, to dresses, coats, and even a wedding dress, the clothing is detailed with the same signature bows, ruffles and silhouettes that can be found in Viktor & Rolf's regular designer collections.
But the mass market concept hasn't helped every designer.
Target struck a licensing agreement with Mossimo Giannulli in 1996, to carry his Mossimo line. At the time, Mossimo was reporting losses year after year. The deal saved Mossimo the brand, but damaged Mossimo the designer.
There's a subtle but distinct difference between designers who have permanently licensed their name to stores and those who create limited-edition lines for those stores.
"I think when the designers continue to have collections at the lower-priced line, it can be a detriment," White said. "Honestly, Isaac Mizrahi....would you pay $10,000 for a couture multicolored knit sweater? Not after you associate him with producing clothes for Target."
Top designers, like Karl Lagerfeld, Stella McCartney and Viktor & Rolf, are among fashion world A-listers designing clothing lines for low-cost chains like H&M.
Photo by Jennifer Kramer