Falling for Stella

The Stella McCartney for Target range and its release, has to be one of the most talked about in recent chain store history - in Australia at least. Queues of shoppers lined the footpaths for the 9:00am store openings yesterday ... which always guarantees a potential frenzy of purchases.


I managed to get down to my local Target at 10:00am where customers were still trawling through the offerings - though very politely. I picked up a few things, but the long line to the change rooms put me off (and having the youngest child strapped down, with donuts)
Target staff were beaming and said most of the range had been sold out. Seeing the armfuls of clothes customers were carrying about, people had obviously grabbed what they could. In the checkout queues people were remarkably patient; one shopper mentioned that their friends were buying up in different stores and ringing each other to get sizes when they ran out.

Nothing like marketing! However, I have to say that I'm not sure what all the fuss was about. I loved the idea of this concept - and I did find a great knit (tunic-style) for $119, which compares to Witchery and Sussan's long cable knits on offer in a similar price range. But in my view, the overall range was not adventurous, the fabrics - dare I say it - more Target than Stella, and they had a limited print and colour palette.

The dresses had great detail and interesting shapes and the trenchcoat design exciting, but the jersey knits seemed very thin. I sound a bit 'picky', but while one or two items were fun, I don't think Stella for Target is exactly a budget shopper's dream.

Chrissy got to her local store by 2:00pm and only got to see a remnant of the collection. She ended up straying from the Stella racks and picked up a pinafore dress on sale and a lovely top, at full price, but still very reasonable, without needing a Stella moment at all!

I'm sure Target were delighted with the outcome and it has made styling from an international label accessible to the budget shopper. I'm going to enjoy the sweater, but I wonder if we weren't taken in just a bit. If you did go overboard with Stella however, there's always the returns policy or eBay!

In the UK, Kate Moss has just released her own range for Top Shop - read about the success of this venture in British Vogue.