Stella McCartney, prominent Beatles scion and celebrated fashion designer, is fashion’s go-to girl for edgy, luxurious clothes that evoke a distinctive rock-star attitude. And now, she’s bringing her too-cool-for-school aesthetic to a brand-new demographic: the too-cool-for-elementary-school set. Today, McCartney will launch her first full children’s wear collection, a 70 piece line in collaboration with GapKids and babyGap, featuring everything from organic denim to grey cashmere hoodies to rain boots and self-customizable high-top sneakers.
No stranger to creating lower-priced capsule collections, having designed for LeSportsac, Adidas, and H&M in the past, McCartney’s inspiration for the collaboration was her experience as a mother of three (her four-year old son offered advice on many of the designs) as well as her desire to create well-made yet affordable children’s wear, explaining “I think that [Gap] makes a great product for the price point, and I think that it’s really important for kids to deliver really high quality and have it accessible to people. I feel that I could get the right quality of product with them.” (WWD)
Ranging from $14 (for a pair of wool tights) to $128 (for a military-style jacket with intricate gold brocade), the collection has sporty dinosaur, superhero, and robot graphics for boys while the girls’ pieces echo McCartney’s signature elegant tomboy look, with tulle tutu skirts and cozy sweater dresses. Indeed, a sweater with an intarsia leopard pattern is an exact small-scale replica of a popular dress from the designer’s fall 2009 RTW namesake collection.
Although the collaboration’s sizes range from newborn to size 12, it won’t be just junior fashionistas and aspiring fashion plates snapping up the navy wool peacoats and faded silk party dresses. According to Eric Wilson of the New York Times, “The designs are so cute that it is reasonable to expect a few adult McCartney fans will be rooting around for the XXLs.”
Tags: Fashion PR
