Fashion School Pals Design for the Masses

by Kristin Marino
Fashion School Review Columnist

November 15, 2006

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Cynthia Rowley. Isaac Mizrahi. Behnaz Sarafpour. No, this isn't an inventory of Jennifer Lopez's closet, or even a rehashing of New York's Fall Fashion Week. It's a partial list of couture fashion designers who have designed lines for Target Stores. Starting in February, add another high-end fashion design house to this list: Proenza Schouler. This is, without a doubt, the greatest fashion coup yet for Target.

Hernandez and McCollough: Two Peas in an Ultra-Hip Pod
The fashion design team of Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough has been wildly popular since the inception of their fashion design business in 2002. Friends since fashion school, the duo was presented the CFDA Perry Ellis Award for new talent in 2003. Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour has worshiped at the altar of Proenza Schouler, and their designs are prominent on just about every red carpet worth standing on.

High Fashion, Low Cost
While celebs have enjoyed Proenza Schouler designs for four years now, most young people, who the duo designs for, can't afford their pieces. These twenty-something 1999 fashion school graduates are thrilled that more hip young things will be able to afford their pieces through the Target deal. Jack says, "And to just be able to reach a young audience, and a more mass audience. I mean, our clothes are for a very specialized customer in a very specialized market." Lazaro adds, "It's just cool to make something that your friends can actually buy."

Some fashion critics worry that the Proenza Schouler label will be diluted and even tarnished with the launch of the Target line. They feel they will avoid this fate because theirs will be a limited-term relationship along the lines of Stella McCartney, Karl Lagerfeld, and Viktor and Rolf for H&M stores.

About the Author
Kristin Marino is obsessed with haute couture, even though she lives in Reno, Nevada, where you can't even get Gucci or Louis Vuitton, let alone Jimmy Choo. She has a Bachelor of Art in English Composition from the University of Nevada.

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