Collaborations are becoming a bit of a snooze these days. Madness ensues and then you take home your haul to realize it’s just like a Monet. (“It’s like a painting, see? From far away, it’s OK, but up close, it’s a big old mess.” Name that quote!)
Check out this video from the H&M launch of Sonia Rykiel. Grown women reduced to a combination of swine and locusts. For the Liberty of London pop-up collaboration with Target, shoppers waited for hours to get floral print umbrellas, bikes and dresses. (FYI Target is completely restocked with Liberty and it doesn’t seem to be moving. We bet it goes down to 70% off. Keep your receipts!) Charlotte Ronson and Urban Outfitters?! Ugh.
We are pretty close to shutting out any label that includes an “x” separating a designer and retailer. Before we completely close the book, we thought it might be fun to shop at a distant, far off and exotic store for economic designer interpretations. Road trip: Macy’s!
Yes, we went to Herald Square in search of Rachel Roy’s collection for Macy’s. Finding the collection was not easy. The store is huge and we aren’t even sure if the sales people there are familiar with their surrounding 10-square-feet, never mind other sections of the store. Four sales associates swore that they never heard of Rachel Roy and that the collection didn’t exist. Finally we ran into a personal shopper who knew her way around the modern granary. (The collection is on 2.)
Rachel Roy’s line for Macy’s is a bit trendy but falls right in line with her trademark uptown chic /downtown cool aesthetic. We found a great (real) leather jacket with peaked shoulders that looks a bit Rick Owens rocker with a splash of Rachel Roy polish ($249.) A (real) silk, water color, sun dress is $119, a tweed jacket with the sophistication of Chanel but shoulder emulets that make us think Balmain is $149, a hot pink trench with a cool print lining is $139and hot pink cocktail dress with a lace back is $119.
Although the collection is more of a diffusion line than a collaboration, the collection is just proof that a high end designer can create a line of clothing that is afforadable but better constructed than a GM car.
