Fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi is returning to Target nearly a quarter century after his first collection there ignited the mass merchant’s “Tarzhay” era.
“Chic. Affordable. Divine,” Mizrahi said when he introduced his first collection there in 2003 as he sauntered around New York City. “It’s like Fifth Avenue meets Main Street USA.”
He has been tapped as creative director at large, a new role, working with Senior Vice President of Design Gena Fox, Target announced Monday. The work will be multifaceted, as Mizrahi will advise on “new product concepts, design innovation and emerging trends [and] identify new opportunities for partnerships, capabilities and experiences that strengthen Target's design leadership.” He will also mentor members of Target’s design team.
"My partners at Target and I have always shared the idea that great design should belong to everybody, and Target is poised to be the design authority in a way only Target can,” Mizrahi said in a statement. “My role is to collaborate with its incredible team to bring more joy, style and sophistication to design through storytelling, creativity and a shopping experience that feels even more fun."
Target may finally be bestowing Mizrahi with the responsibilities and status he always wanted there. The designer left in 2009 to take what the New York Times then described as a more lucrative and ambitious role at Liz Claiborne after Target reportedly didn’t match that offer.
He left having furthered Target’s “Design for All” campaign, which over the years has included collabs with Marimekko, Missoni, Lilly Pulitzer, Prabal Gurung and more. Retailers like H&M and others soon also jumped on the idea of matching up with higher-end designers and labels.
Target also built a series of highly successful private labels with design and storytelling in focus. But more recently, the retailer has lost much of that momentum.
Mizrahi is well poised to help recapture it, not just because of his previous experience there but also because of his breadth of merchandising expertise, according to Liza Amlani, principal at Retail Strategy Group.
“Mizrahi is one of the few designers who genuinely understand how assortment strategies change across different price tiers. He has navigated luxury from his own line at Bergdorf Goodman to mass market at QVC,” she said by email. “Target is getting a Creative Director who is a merchant. Which is exactly what they need.”
The designer created collections for QVC from 2009, when he brought Liz Claiborne to the shopping network, until last year. His work for Target will have to be distinct from what he accomplished at QVC, Amlani said. And Target will have to follow through with other operational fixes.
“Solving Target’s merchandising strategy is one piece of the puzzle,” she said. “Store execution, supply chain reliability, and customer experience consistency are structural problems also need to be solved. Getting the assortment right is a necessary condition for everything else to fall into place.”
