Monday, April 20, 2015

Kohl's Taps Thakoon for Next Designer Collaboration

Kohl's Taps Thakoon for Next Designer Collaboration:

Thakoon Panichgul. Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Thakoon Panichgul. Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Mass retailers are still looking to designer collaborations to create buzz and up their fashion cred. That includes Kohl's, which has just announced the designer of its next limited-edition capsule collection: Thakoon Panichgul.

Panichgul will design a range of womenswear all priced under $200. Inspired by London, his collection will be the seventh in the retailer's DesigNation collaboration series, following in the footsteps of contemporaries including Peter Som, Derek Lam, Elie Saab and, most recently, Michelle Smith of Milly.

While H&M and Target tend to go big with their designer collaborations -- from the announcement phase all the way to the celebrity-filled launch parties -- Kohl's takes a slightly quieter approach, both in terms of publicity and the clothes themselves. While more interesting than what you might find elsewhere at Kohl's, the collaboration pieces tend towards the accessible. A recent Fortune article details the retailer's attempts to re-energize its fashion offering, particularly when it comes to women's apparel. Arthur Lewis, Kohl's head of product development at its New York design studio, said it's important the company doesn't stray too far from “our great casual-essential lane" -- i.e., the clothes that customers have come to expect from the retailer.

So while you shouldn't expect this collaboration to be as buzzy as, say, Lilly Pulitzer for Target or Alexander Wang for H&M, Panichgul is still a great designer, and will likely do a good job translating his aesthetic for Kohl's customers, as he's done in the past for Target and Gap.

Posted by Nelio Inacio at 9:05 AM

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