Target gets creative help from Gen Z in new apparel line

Daphne Howland Through a special arrangement, what follows is a summary of an article from Retail Dive, an e-newsletter and website providing a 60-second bird’s eye view of the latest retail news and trends. With the help of 10 talented members of “Generation Z” — including bloggers, app developers, musicians, authors, surfers, athletes and artists aged 10 to 14 — Target has designed an apparel and accessories collection aimed at that demographic. The overall collection, dubbed “Art Class,” will feature 100 or so clothing items and accessories. The Gen-Z “trendsetters” were brought to Target’s Minneapolis headquarters to provide feedback on some early Art Class looks and designed two of the collection’s final pieces in a limited edition set the retailer is calling “Class of 2017.” The effort follows a new gender-neutral Pillowfort line of home decor goods for kids and its new Cat & Jack apparel line for younger kids and babies. Those lines were also developed with input from children (and their parents). “Gen Z” includes kids born between 1995 and 2010 and their numbers are larger than the already massive Millennial generation. They’re seen as the first truly digitally native group and viewed as creative, eco- and fashion-conscious yet pragmatic types who view the world as always interconnected. Gen Z-ers influence some $600 billion of household spending and they’ll account for some 40 percent of consumers by 2020, Farla Efros, president of retail strategy firm HRC Retail Advisory, told USA Today. It's no surprise that such an effort is coming from Target — the retailer innovated the mass-market designer collaboration in the Eighties, after realizing it wasn't about to win a price war with Walmart. After straying from that model, the product differentiation that comes with such collaborations is back under CEO Brian Cornell, including a venture with modernist lifestyle company Dwell. “Art Class provides kids, and their parents, another great reason to choose Target,” Michelle Wlazlo, Target senior vice president of apparel and accessories, said in a statement. “The line gives kids the ability to have fun with their fashion — creating looks that are truly their own and truly original — all while offering moms and dads with the value and convenience their busy lives demand.”

• Target gets creative help from Gen Z in new apparel line – Retail Dive
• Target’s New Fashion Line Allows Kids to Get Creative With Their Style – Target
• A look at Target's Art Class brand for Gen Z – USA Today
• Calling All Parents & Kids: Pillowfort is the Home Collection of Your Dreams – Target
• Designed With Kids, For Kids: Introducing Cat & Jack – Target