Target Launches Classic American Fashion to Rejuvenate Apparel

(MoneyWatch)  Target is touting fashion for summer with the release of its Look Book, a style guide that is all new in a '40s kind of way and a fresh attempt to change its apparel fortunes.

The look is definitely retro. Although a couple of different eras are visited, with 60's-look boys surfer swim trunks, for instance, the women's element definitely harkens to the classic American styles of the 1940s as the inspiration for, among other things, halter-top swim separates. An ancillary item, Make Yourself Youthful, actually is referenced as a rejuvenating face serum. The lotion -- also described, in more antique terminology, as an anti-wrinkle preparation ?€" comes in a box with a 40's-style pinup picture as its major graphic element. And the pinup is wearing a halter-top swimsuit.

Fashion has stumbled at Target lately, and, in January, comparable store sales in women's apparel were a major contributor to an overall 3.3 percent comp decline. Fewer people purchased at Target stores in January, a company spokesman said in a conference call recorded yesterday. Product categories consumers have to shop regularly, including food and health care, had positive comps, as did electronics in the deep-discount, post-holiday, gift card fraught month.

Categories where people could defer purchasing got hit, apparel among them. The women's segment, where comps tumbled by more than 20 percent, lead a category comparable store sales decline in the low teens. The Look Book offers styles for the whole family, and a revamp is critical across the board. In apparel, even the less discretionary categories, new born/infant/toddler and women's hosiery, saw declines although the least severe. Still, it's pretty ominous for a retailer whose reputation is built on cheap chic to see its fashion business shrugged off by shoppers. Seasonal apparel is a major draw for women, and that translates into more purchases, which is what Target needs right now. If its latest looks don't catch on, this could be Target's summer of discontent.