The Budget Babe | Affordable Fashion & Style Blog

Fashion Radar: Vera Wang for Kohl's

In case you hadn't heard, Kohl's is teaming up with designer Vera Wang to create Very Vera by Vera Wang, thereby bringing her styles to the masses. The brand will be available exclusively in Kohl's stores and on Kohls.com starting in the fall of 2007.

The question is: Will this collaboration tarnish Vera's name? After all, when the preeminent wedding gown designer in the world decides to attach her lofty name to a mid-brow retailer like Kohl's, something's gotta give, right?

Personally, we don't think it's a bad move—after all, we love her personal style and if anyone has the skills to translate their high-end designs to a lower price-point, it's Ms. Wang. Consumers (we hope) will come out ahead. We like the looks we've seen so far (above)...elegant, urban, great colors and even the fabrics look good.

We're just concerned about her reputation as the reigning queen of bridal couture. What princess or A-lister is going to want to wear a Vera Wang dress on their big day if Jane Nobody can pick up something from Very Vera down at the Harlem Irving Plaza Kohl's store?

"Very Vera" can also be seen as an extension of Wang's ever-growing empire—there's her Lavender line and forays into housewares, jewelry, perfume and more. Call it selling out—we call it evolution.
Comments
Good information
#1 Atlanta Real Estate (Homepage) on 2007-06-24 13:26 (Reply)
Good point about evolution. We live in an age of throw-away clothes (what else is H&M?). We like to buy more and spend less than 10 years ago, not to mention 50 years ago, when people bought clothes when they needed them and wore them till they fell apart.

I would rather buy a Vera Wang dress at Kohl's and use the money I save on a great trip. Anyway, you can buy a cheaper outfit and tweak it to your personal style by accessorizing, etc. with a little common sense and fashion flair.

Isn't that why we read The Budget Babe?
:-)
#2 maggie z on 2007-06-26 09:06 (Reply)
You raise a very important point, and frankly I'm still torn on the issue of "disposable" fashion (although without a doubt, it's here to stay). On the one hand, it affords the average consumer choices we simply never had before while providing income to workers around the world. On the other hand, is it environmentally sound? How do fair trade practices factor into all of this? This begs a larger discussion...more on this later!!
#2.1 The Budget Babe on 2007-06-26 11:59 (Reply)
I raised this issue with my husband the chemist and he said polyesters and other synthetics and made from (or with?) hydrocarbons (fluorocarbons?) (can you tell i'm not science-savvy?) and that they are not enviro-friendly.
so, yes, we can buy lots of cheap clothing, but the way forward is to check labels and try to buy as many natural fabrics as we can (this is getting harder and harder to do, i've noticed.).
same with plastic jewelry.
in addition to being fashion-conscious, we should make an effort to learn how and under what circumstances the product was manufactured.
:-)
#2.1.1 maggie z on 2007-06-27 10:58 (Reply)
Gulp...does this mean we should all be shopping exclusively at our local Goodwill? We're going to investigate what options exist for recycling clothing, besides donating or eBay...:-)
#2.1.1.1 The Budget Babe on 2007-06-28 09:38 (Reply)
No no, I didn't mean buying used clothes.
By buying clothing from the right sources you are helping people who normally wouldn't have jobs and helping countries who could use the money.
We just have to be on the lookout for things like sweatshops, too much polyester, buying carefully rather than just buying a lot. does that make sense?
:-)
#2.1.1.1.1 maggie z on 2007-06-28 15:01 (Reply)
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