Kohl’s certainly is doing a good job of keeping their name in my mouth!
…That felt a lot weirder to type out than I expected it to. Anyway, tl;dr: Kohl’s is tired of being the kid sister to Target, and are launching a designer collaboration series with Narciso Rodriguez as their first big name.
Jen and I only recently started having curiosities about Kohl’s. I don’t know why it took us so long… We were Target addicts for a long time before our loyalty started to dislike their disloyalty to their LGBT community (which may be improving, by the way). [If you want to read about why I’m an ethical budget fashion blogger, please feel free!]
After years as helpless moths, willingly enslaved to Target’s flame, we built up blinders to all other options. You know, None shall mimic Target’s divine being, and all that. I remember the Kohl’s that was being built directly next to the Target in a suburb of my town… I hated it. Loathed it. Just for being so audacious as to place itself so close to my Target – how dare you mock us so openly! But those days are past, and a few weeks ago, Jen and I wandered into a Kohl’s with determination to have The Kohl’s Experience and needless to say, we were pleased. Very, very pleased.
The brand partnerships, the merchandising, the variety… It was all stunning! It made me wish I had a sink & a mirror so I could stare down into the sink and slowly upwards until I look myself in the eyes, which are full of regret and shame at how foolish I’ve been. We spent hours going through everything and came out as new women, with a definite appreciation for a Kohl’s we’d once neglected.
ANYWAY one of the biggest irritations about being upset with Target is watching everyone else get to play with fun designer collaborations like Missoni and Jason Wu, and we never even get to pretend to buy it before it sells out everywhere! No fair. I don’t get to hang out with all the other awesome fashion bloggers on Twitter and talk about how cool the collection was and here is a picture of me being cute in a dressing room in a Missoni x Target maxi dress (Yeah, I’m jealous of Budget Babe, so what).
Now, though… Now, everything is different. Kohl’s announced today that they will be kicking off a new designer collaboration series called Design Nation! But this isn’t just a piddly little “slap a department store and a designer together and produce ten billion shift dresses,” no… This program has a premise.
…The concept invites designers to travel to a city of their choosing, where they’ll search for inspiration for the month-long capsule collection. The result will pieces that not only reflect the designer’s DNA, but also the city’s.
The first collaboration will be with Narciso Rodriguez, and the first peeks are in the photos at the top of this post! Narciso’s choice city was Istanbul, therefore the collection will be based on the city, with a focus on the colors and liveliness of the street life (graffiti, tiled floors, rugs, etc.).
The Narciso Rodriguez collection will range from $30-$150, which speaks well for Design Nation. I can’t wait to see more!