Target Cuts Around Fashion with Shaun White

(MoneyWatch)  Target's reintroduction of the Shaun White apparel line says two things about the partnership between the store and Olympic gold medal snowboarder, that the first go-around was successful and that the retailer thinks it has something it can sell to boys and young men, or at least to their moms.

The first Shaun White 4 Target introduction was slated for 90 days or until the line ?€" designed for traveling to events and hanging out after, as White has a snowboarding gear deal with Burton ?€" sold through. A Target spokesperson pointed out that the new introduction is open ended, so new collections should follow the next, which starts hitting stores in late August or early September. White's encore makes sense if you consider that snowboarding is a lot more egalitarian than, say fashion, so it probably matters less to its potential customers that the line is sold at Target than it might to fashionistas. Besides, snowboarders, or wannabes, are getting their snowboarding video game gear at Target anyway, so apparel isn't as much of a leap.

Given the comfortable, cleanly styled items, Target's initiative with White seems to be about sales to boys and young men, and something that contrasts with its introduction of Mossimo several years ago. When the retailer introduced Mossimo, folks in fashion inevitably had a story about friends or colleagues who said they couldn't buy the label anymore because it was in Target. Apocryphal or not, the stories represented an attitude, but a little rejection in New York and Los Angeles wasn't a big deal for Target, as its designer partnerships are as much about marketing as sales. Of course, the retailer wants to sell merchandise, but, if it doesn't, tying into a designer or otherwise noteworthy name provides a boost to the most important brand nourished by the retailer, the Target brand.

The original Mossimo offering for boys and young men didn't seem designed to sell. The material and the way it was cut seemed suited only for very skinny boys with a high tolerance for discomfort. However, they weren't really the key audience. Over the very limited Mossimo displays ostensibly developed for male teens were big signs showing very hip looking young men dressed in the clothes. Tween girls, a big Mossimo target, tend to be drawn to what the cool boys are doing and wearing. You can call it the Tiger Beat effect. So it isn't outrageous to conclude that Target's approach to Mossimo for teen boys was in large part about selling tween girls, who had a much richer selection of clothes available under the label. If male teens bought the stuff, Target would have been delighted, but what the retailer was after was excitement for its own brand. Which it got for awhile. The excitement generated by the Mossimo brand faded after several seasons and its presence became spotty, although the retailer and the brand owner, Iconix, have been taking steps to reinvigorate it.

With White, Target seems to envision a brand it can sell. Snowboarding is cool, and even if Target can't convince everyone that it's a fashionable place to shop, a reputation for being cool is enough to interest many younger consumers, or at least their moms. After all, it's moms who actually shop at the stores. Their definition of cool is usually broader than that accepted by their kids and likely to include terms such as affordable, which is something Target promises the White line will be.