If you feel like every new designer-retailer collaboration is "the most exciting collaboration yet!"—you're not crazy. Fashion-heads have short-term memory loss and non-existent patience; we're always on the prowl for the very next thing. At our most docile we're like effervescent puppies; give us a new bone and we'll wiggle our tail and forget all about that yummy, excellent bone you gave us yesterday. And yet, you still might want to believe us when we state that Joseph Altuzarra for Target is the. Best. Collaboration. Ever.
Brief recap:
Although the mind-hype surrounding the idea of pairing a moderately priced retailer with a high-end designer has recently fallen silent, Target creatives won't give up the ghost—they keep delivering this power-duo model twice a year. The latest lineups? Philip Lim (clean, tailored and bit androgynous) Parabal Gurung (graphic prints and kicky dresses) and the British powerhouse PeterPilotto (geometric shapes and floral mash-ups). They're all hot, young, and on-trend fashion names. Not surprisingly, Target is gunning for the hot, young, on-trend fashionista who, for some damned reason, can't afford a real PiterPilotto dress.
So where's Joseph Altuzarra in all this?
Simply put, on another level. While the aforementioned designers are well-loved and fast-sold among the fashionable crowd, Altuzarra's fashion shows and collections resemble a secret code only the ones in-the-know can crack. Always understated and sophisticated, it was Altuzarra who delivered the best collection of Spring/Summer 2014 NYFW, playing with pinstripes, liquid silver satins and launching the "pajama" trend into the stratosphere.
He did it again for Fall 2014, thrilling with stunning, shredded evening gowns and tame-yet-luxurious coats. And it was him, a couple of months ago, who transformed Rihanna's style from skanky to swanky.
When I picture someone wearing the clothes, it’s a woman, never a girl. We put a lot of work into developing the tailoring, and it took many of fittings to get just it right. It’s about twisting things in a subtle way—doing a banker stripe in crêpe de Chine for example, and suddenly it becomes something much more feminine. — Joseph Altuzarra discussing the new collection in Vogue
Sounds like this time around (along with the expected prints and a dash of gimmicks) we'll be able to invest our $39.99 in some authentic, first-class, runway-worthy tailoring—a feature recent Target collaborations simply haven't delivered. Or, in Altuuzarra's perfect own words: "Something that reads more like a handwritten note than an email."
While this ad leaves um, everything to the imagination—where the hell are the clothes?!—we're still girding our loins in excitement.
Image: Facebook
