Brandon Maxwell Named Creative Director for Two Walmart Brands

[lucy92]

I feel like Halston was the one who really set the standard by doing these collabs to court a more accessible, affordable audience. And that worked fine because he was established and sought-after at the time.
t.

Halston's "Halston III" line for JC Penney was viewed as a spectacular failure. How did it "work"?

 

[Benn98]

Halston's "Halston III" line for JC Penney was viewed as a spectacular failure. How did it "work"?

Because he got paid a ton of money, record-breaking not only at the time but even today. And despite the line shutting down before the 6-year contract mark, it did perform well initially. The real issue imo was the frequency which likely forced him to dilute his signature.

Whichever way you look at it, he was ahead of his time and did set the tone for these type of collabs.

 

[Phuel]

I own a few Brandon Maxwell pieces. Both pieces have impeccable cutting and form and are made out of very good materials that few other brands replicate.

I don't see the Walmart job as working well for him. Firstly, he's known for most of his pieces being solid color. His signature design skills - form and fabric can't really translate if working for a conglomerate that only values pinching pennies. How create can he get if the items average for under $20?

He would have been much better off going to Macys and pushing for his own house brand there. Missed opportunity.

But it’s not a collab where his signatures would be the highlight and draw, with a smaller production run that can afford to up the quality factor from their usual offering. He’s their new CD-- with its product distribution to what could be potentially over 10,000 store world-wide. It’s not about him anymore since his name won’t be leading the various banners. He has to find his versatility, assimilate and work with their established structure and marketing vocabulary. It’s his job to fit into the existing and established Walmart banners and not the other way around. And aligning with such a financially-secure conglomerate as Walmart is a more fiscally-prudent choice than Macy’s, which is on unstable financial grounds.