Target Launches New Designer Collaborations with Sergio Hudson, La Ligne and Kika Vargas
Courtesy Target
Target's newest designer collaboration is almost here!
Sergio Hudson, La Ligne and Kika Vargas partnered with Target to launch designer collaborations at the popular retailer starting Oct. 9. The 100-piece collection, with clothing and accessories from all three brands, features basics, workwear, going-out outfits and everything in between.
Sergio Hudson tells PEOPLE that he loved that this collaboration gave his eponymous brand an opportunity to reach more people in general but specifically people in his everyday life.
"In my high collection, my price point is between $5,000 and $8,000, so some people would never be able to afford that," he tells PEOPLE exclusively. "I feel like that's not where I come from. I come from very humble beginnings, and the people in my family who support me shop at Target. So when we were presented with this opportunity, I felt that I could use it as a love letter to those people who have supported me and still would support me if they could."
For the creatives behind La Ligne — Valerie Macaulay, Meredith Melling and Molly Howard — the Target collaboration opens doors for their growing brand. Howard tells PEOPLE that though La Ligne is bigger than it "used to be" but it's "still a young brand," which makes the creation of this collection extra special.
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Courtesy Target Sergio Hudson for Target
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For Kika Vargas and her eponymous brand, this is her chance to share her Colombian heritage with a wider audience. The designer, who has a fine arts background and hand-draws all her prints, drew inspiration from her home country.
"This was a really nice moment to just sit down and bring in all this Colombian heritage — the colors and the warmth — while keeping the collection diverse and inclusive," Vargas tells PEOPLE. "With the prints, I wanted to bring that inspiration from Colombia. I drew flowers, and then there's this print inspired by the ocean. We have both oceans, the Atlantic and Pacific, so it's the corals and such."
The designers behind each of these brands have a very distinct style and color palette that they work with. For all of them, translating that into an affordable collection with Target that still felt authentic — with pieces ranging from $8 to $70 — was pleasantly surprising.
Vargas, who first launched her brand a decade ago before relaunching in 2018, is known for her prints, bold colors and voluminous silhouettes, which you'll find throughout her collection. A floral-print pink dress with exaggerated shoulders is her favorite piece, but she wants Target customers to be bold with mixing and matching all the pieces, no matter the print, silhouette or hue.
"All the dresses have pockets because it's really important for us to always have pockets," Vargas says, knowing how big of a deal that is to shoppers. "Also, art is one of the biggest inspirations for the collection. I try to have other artists and their work involved in mine. So sitting down and drawing, I'll barricade myself at home with music on or podcasts and disconnect from the world and draw away. I studied fine arts first before becoming a designer, and that's a big part of my creation."
Her collection includes dresses, jackets, sunglasses, bags and even glasses chains so you never have to worry about misplacing them when you take them off. While some pieces are in muted shades, where Vargas' collection really shines is with the bright prints and shimmering fabrics that would feel at home on celebrities like Zendaya and Taylor Swift (two of the designer's favorites).
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Courtesy Target Kika Vargas for Target
La Ligne — French for "line" — is celebrity-loved brand based around the classic stripe. Macaulay, Melling and Howard, who all had a background in fashion before starting their brand, wanted to bring their elevated striped basics to Target's shelves and encourage shoppers to dress everything up or down.
"There's so many ways to wear these pieces," Melling tells PEOPLE. "For us, it's such an important thing. Through this collection, we just love the versatility of, 'Here are the stripes that are just with jeans, but then, here they are maxed out.'"
Howard adds, "These are really pieces that are for everything." A black-and-white striped pajama set in the collection, she says, can be worn quite literally to bed or be dressed up for a night out if you so choose. "We encourage people to have fun when styling our clothes."
"In the same way that we sell our clothes, these are clothes for your wardrobe from season to season, year after year," Macaulay says. "We really wanted that to be the focus of this collection as well, so these pieces can mix in your wardrobe to whatever else that you have and stand the test of time."
In their Target lineup, you'll find classic pieces like striped sweaters and wide-leg trousers alongside a two-tone trench coat with a striped lining. The pieces could easily slot into anyone's closet, no matter their style, but Melling, Howard and Macaulay would love to see one of their designs on the likes of Michelle Obama, Beyoncé or even Harry Styles.
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Hudson, who is known for his structured pieces and suiting, actually pushed Target just enough to get the retailer to include boning in some of his collection to feel true to what he creates in his high collection. The designer — who has dressed a number of celebrities, including Insecure star Issa Rae for the Emmys this month and Michelle Obama for President Joe Biden's 2021 Inauguration and dreams of seeing one of his designs on the big stage at the Oscars — also often works with bright colors and prints for a sophisticated but sexy look in all his creations.
"The fabrics in this collection are more durable, they're more accessible and it's a more comfortable fit," Hudson tells PEOPLE of what you'll find in his Target collection. "You get that Sergio Hudson vibe, but you can wear it for longer periods of time. That's what I love about it — it's still those special pops of color and those things that speak to my high collection."
In his collection, you'll find wide-leg trousers that can be paired with matching blazers, monochromatic dresses, coats and his favorite piece of all, elbow-length gloves in three different colors.
"I didn't think they were going to be able to do the leather gloves; I thought, 'That's just out of control,'" he tells PEOPLE. "But they actually came back to me and said, 'We got the gloves and we're doing them in three colors.' I was like, oh! They're really nice gloves, and I feel like you can wear them forever."
Courtesy Target La Ligne for Target
All of the clothing in the collections will be available in sizes XXS to 4XL, as has become customary for Target. This inclusive sizing is something that the designers were excited to see, as it's not always possible for small brands to carry inclusive sizing, simply for financial reasons.
Hudson, who says he understands what it's like to not be able to walk into a store and buy something off the rack, makes custom clothing for plus-size shoppers but only carries up to a size 16 in his regular line. It's not for lack of wanting to make larger sizes available, it's just not in his budget right now. With the Target collection, though, he can reach people who wear plus sizes.
"This is something that people always ask me. 'When are you going to do clothes for bigger girls?' I'm like, 'Well, it's like when you're making collections, you can only afford to do a certain range.' So either you choose to do this or you choose to do that, or those brands that do both, they have a wider reach when it comes to finances. My collection starts at a 0 and I push it even doing a 16, because with the grading, the costs are so expensive. To be able to reach every woman [with the Target collection] is a gift."
Vargas echoes that sentiment, expressing her joy over the inclusivity of her Target collection, down to even the photoshoots to show off her clothes. "I think that was one of my favorite nice surprises — to have the fittings with all types of women. And just seeing how beautiful everybody looks. It was a really nice bonus, to be able to work as inclusive as possible."
Target launched its first designer collaboration in 1999 with a collection from architect Michael Graves. Since then, the store has featured collections with the likes of Rodarte, Phillip Lim, Lilly Pulitzer and more.
"One of the reasons guests love shopping at Target is because of our focus on style — and our ability to deliver that style at incredibly affordable prices," said Jill Sando, executive vice president and chief merchandising officer at Target in a press release. "Our newest collaboration with Kika Vargas, La Ligne and Sergio Hudson is a celebration of style, and we know our guests will love this collection of trend-forward pieces that reflect each designer's distinct, diverse perspective on fashion."
The Sergio Hudson, La Ligne and Kika Vargas collections will be available on Target's website and at Target stores starting Oct. 9 and will be available for a limited time.
