from news.com.au
Stella targets budget-savvy Aussie women
By Fiona Hudson
FASHION designer Stella McCartney has stitched up a deal to design a cut-price range exclusively for Australian women.
In a rare collaboration, the daughter of ex-Beatle Sir Paul has created a limited-edition, 42-piece collection for Target stores - an example of which is pictured.
Award-winning designer McCartney, 35, is famous for dressing A-list style queens including close friends Kate Moss and Madonna.
Australian women were bloody lucky she'd agreed to the highly unusual deal with Target, she said.
Her only other such collaboration, a limited-edition range for European chain H&M in 2005, sparked brawls at cash registers across Britain.
Her friendships with glamorous stars including Kylie Minogue, Nicole Kidman and Cate Blanchett helped sway the designer when Target approached her last year.
"I love Australians. I think Cate Blanchett is stunning and we use (model) Gemma Ward in our shows," McCartney said.
Her creative team jokingly tossed around the idea of ads featuring Nicole, Kylie, Cate and Gemma in the clothes at the Opera House, with Russell Crowe playing guitar.
Instead the soon-to-appear ads were shot in London by her photographer sister Mary McCartney Donald. Their father Sir Paul is locked in a bitter divorce battle with second wife Heather Mills, whom Stella is said to loathe.
The prominent animal rights campaigner cites mum Linda, who died of breast cancer in 1998, as a key inspiration for the signature looks on display in the Australian collection.
"Mum was a big style icon for me; her natural sexiness and natural confidence," she said.
The Target range will include a trench coat, tailored jacket and pants, shirts, a day dress and an embroidered cocktail frock.
McCartney said she hoped the garments would be "something you want to keep forever".
She also said the Target collection would complement her high-end collection, rather than diluting it.
"This is about exposing more women to our label," she said.
The full range will be unveiled in the 2007 L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival and go on sale in selected stores from March 12.
