Making Money in Multiples
FAST fashion collections like those of Karl Lagerfeld, Stella McCartney and Isaac Mizrahi have brought good design to the masses, but what have they brought to designers?
?Obviously, it?s cash,? said Jack McCollough, half of the designing
duo behind the ultraducky label Proenza Schouler, which Target will
begin selling next month. Instead of $1,525 jackets at Bergdorf
Goodman, it will be $39.99 cotton blazers at Target ? oh, the bliss of
economy of scale.
?We?re a small company, and we need all the income we can get,? Mr. McCollough said. ?It?s also really great exposure.?
Mr. McCollough and his design partner, Lazaro Hernandez, are so
enamored with their Target collection that for four days, beginning
Feb. 2, they plan to transform the Opening Ceremony store in SoHo into
a pop-up Proenza Schouler for Target boutique. Humberto Leon, an owner
of the store, said he will begin selling the luxury Proenza Schouler
line in Los Angeles when an Opening Ceremony store is opened there in
April.
Like the Luella Bartley and Behnaz Sarafpour collections that have
been sold at Target, the Proenza Schouler line could be described as
representing the best of their past hits: a palm print skirt for
$24.99, a hooded cotton anorak for $39.99, a silk camisole with
trapunto topstitching for $49.99.
Designing for Target and for other projects ? a watch for Movado, a
camera case for Hewlett-Packard ? has enabled Mr. McCollough and Mr.
Hernandez to develop their business more quickly than most fashion
upstarts. With their business partner, Shirley Cook, they recently
bought out their sole investor, Markus Höfels, a private venture
capitalist in Berlin. They also signed a license to create sunglasses
with L?amy, the French eyewear company, which they will show in
September.
By now, designers like Mr. McCollough and Mr. Hernandez have figured
out how to differentiate their work so as not to turn off those who
prefer their Proenza Schouler at Bergdorf. The focus of their Target
line is day wear, with bright colors, cotton sweatshirts and
pajama-inspired tops. New for Target is a Proenza Schouler crest,
printed on sweatshirts, with the silhouette of an Italian greyhound
(based on an office regular named Baloney) encircled in a laurel wreath.
?That kind of stuff is easier to make a little richer,? Mr. McCollough said. ?It?s hard to make a cheaper lace look expensive.?
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/18/fa...gewanted=print
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