Macy's Debuts Threads & Heirs Collection for Guys, Hoping to Turn "Blah" into "Buy"

Macy's (M) has been on a roll recently, unleashing a slew of designer/celebrity collaborations in apparel and housewares â€"- most notably announcing Madonna's "Material Girl" line for juniors. But its latest rollout of Threads & Heirs, a mid-priced sportswear collection for men, has left some fashion critics scratching their heads. Which is surprising because this collaboration has all the earmarks of a successful venture for both the retailer and the designers.

Let's start with the concept. Macy's execs made no bones about taking a page from Target's (TGT) playbook by appropriating the formula of its successful GO International lines: have a recognized high-end designer do an exclusive, limited capsule collection and offer it at affordable prices.

The result is that Macy's Threads & Heirs line features 20 pieces created by Brian Wolk and Claude Morais, the Brooklyn-based design duo behind Ruffian, a high-end women's ready-to-wear line. Ruffian's built a cult following among fashionistas such as Kate Moss and Kirsten Dunst, two ladies known for their edgy cool. Though better known for their women's wear, the two have experience in men's fashion, designing ties for Barney's New York several years ago. This partnership with Macy's (on the heels of their other collab with Anthropologie) should help make Wolk and Morais household names.

Threads & Heirs prices are right in line with Target's GO lines ranging from $24 for a t-shirt to $99 for a jacket, right in line to appeal to the wallet of the twenty- to forty-something man. And the looks, all short sleeve (emphasis on the short â€" these are not your frat boy, elbow-length golf shirt sleeves) plaid shirts, slim jackets, and trim knit sweaters, fall into that most current of styles for guys â€" the hybrid mod/Americana/punk.

Macy's even tweaked the in-store merchandising of the line, giving over valuable, main-floor real estate to the collection to improve visibility. But simply clearing 1,000 square feet of space in its flagship Herald Square store is not enough to punch up what New York City fashion blogger Shophound finds mostly underwhelming.

Presented like most other the store's merch, plaid shirts have been crammed in the racks on cheap plastic hangers, and it all sort of fades into the rest of their men's offerings which are so firmly entrenched in the middle of the road. It's not aggressively unattractive, like Ed Hardy for example, but it doesn't look to us like anything you wouldn't otherwise expect to find at Macy's. It's just kind of blah.

Macy's can't afford to be boring in any area. While same store sales continue to make incremental gains -- ending with just under four percent in February -- it's especially important to keep shoppers' excitement (especially in the often overlooked men's department) fueled by offering exclusive products from the likes of Kenneth Cole. Let's hope it doesn't take long for Threads & Heirs to hit its stride.