By Margarita Nahapetyan
Stella McCartney, famous British fashion designer, will create a collection for children and babies that is projected to launch in Gap stores and online later this year. This will be the designer's first collection for boys and girls.
Ms. McCartney joined other famous designers who took part in similar projects for the fashion company, when in 2005, she created a collection for the high street chain H&M. That collection was a success, and a strategy H&M has continued to follow. In Spring 2008, Stella McCartney designed bags for LeSportsac.
The new McCartney limited edition collection is expected to appear in stores in November. The Gap representatives said that it would be sold in select GapKids and BabyGap stores in the United States, Canada, U.K., France, Ireland and Japan. Consumers in the U.S. also will be able to order items from the collection online.
Mark Hansen, president of Gap brand, did not hide his satisfaction, saying that he was happy for having the opportunity to work in collaboration with such a talented and famous designer, like Stella. Hansen also added that there is no doubt that their cooperation would be a real hit. The company, like other retailers, has looked to high-profile designers in order to help it attract more customers into its stores, especially as the current time of financial crisis and global recession has impacted consumer spending.
San Francisco-based Gap owns brands such as the Old Navy, Banana Republic, Piperlime and Athleta. In May, Gap reported a first-quarter profit that narrowly exceeded Wall Street estimates as the famous retailer gained benefit from reducing the prices and improvement at Old Navy stores. Revenue went down 8 per cent as same-store sales (stores that have been opened at least for a period of one year), fell 8 per cent.
Stella McCartney, the daughter of Beatle Paul McCartney, has been running her own fashion brand since 2001, in a joint venture with Gucci Group. McCartney showed interest for designing clothes as a little girl. She worked in collaboration with many famous designers such as Gucci, Christian Lacroix and others. Stella says she would have been a great designer regardless of her father's fame.
A celebrity designer said that she had wanted for a long time to create a collection for kids, and could offer the line at an affordable price in her collaboration with Gap. "I believe that kids clothing should be more accessibly priced, which is particularly important at the moment given the current crisis in economy. It is really exciting for us to do a boys and girls collection for the first time," said McCartney, a mother of three, who is a strict vegetarian known for not using any leather, wool, silk or fur in her designs.
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now