After hooking bargain-hungry shoppers with creations from big-name designers like Christopher John Rogers, Missoni, and LoveShackFancy in past seasons, Target is back this fall with an enticing new chapter in its designer collaboration lineup. For the Fall Designer Collection, the big-box brand has tapped Sergio Hudson, Kika Vargas, and La Ligne, each high-fashion labels with a signature but versatile look. More than 100 apparel and accessory items, in total, will be available for $70 and under, with most pieces clocking in at under $40.
The designers behind this collection—Hudson, Vargas, and La Ligne co-founders Valerie Macaulay, Meredith Melling, and Molly Howard—have been perfecting their Target capsules for about a year. Hudson and Vargas were approached by Target directly, while Melling says she reached out to the store through her previous contacts at Vogue, where she and Macaulay first met. Today, during a press preview of the collection, all five designers expressed similar reasoning for their interest in teaming up with the retailer: Target can deliver not only quality, but accessibility.
“You know, you always have those aspiring customers that love the brand and want to support what we’re doing,” Hudson explained. “You have those people who maybe can only afford a belt or, you know, a top when it goes on sale. And I value those customers just as much as the customers that can buy right out. There are people who have supported me for years that can’t go to Neiman Marcus and purchase a Sergio Hudson suit. So this was, to me, a great opportunity to give something back to them.”
Macaulay, Melling, and Howard agreed, adding, “You get all this reach, and then you can [still] be really proud of the actual pieces.”
That quality maintenance is felt in the items themselves, which range from trench coats, leather gloves, and sunglasses to comfy-chic knitwear, hip-hugging skirts, and oversized bags. Hudson, in particular, says he worked to translate the ethos for which his brand is best known—bright colors, precise tailoring, and elegant silhouettes—in a manner that’s “still something new and fresh, that isn’t just a knockoff of what we do with the high collection.”
La Ligne took a similar approach, pulling pieces important “to the last six years of our brand,” the founders said, and remixing them to serve multiple purposes. The label’s namesake, for instance, is evident throughout the collection—not just on one particularly luscious Breton sweater, but in socks, coats, wide-leg pants, and beanies as well. Every item is comfortable but elevated, crafted to transition from one outfit to the next.
Vargas also found that, even with a much wider audience involved, her brand’s bold aesthetic was not only supported but encouraged. “As a Colombian, sometimes you can feel that you’re a bit far from the fashion industry core,” she said. “So these kind of opportunities really shine a light not only on the brand but also on our country and our industry.” Her vibrant, gorgeous hand-painted designs, inspired by flowers and coral reefs, are splashed across sleek fabric on chic boxy tops, matching sets, and voluminous puff-sleeve gowns.
Each of the pieces are available in sizes ranging from XXS-4X, and will be available to shop in-store and online on Sunday, Oct. 9, for prices between $8-$70. We suggest lining up to browse early; if prior drops are any indication, the Fall Designer Collection is liable to sell out fast.
Lauren Puckett-Pope is an associate editor at ELLE, where she covers news and culture.