Cuteness Overdose

I’m a little late in the game so I’m sure you must have all seen the Erin Featherston for Target press pictures when they were first leaked here and then Target was forced to release the rest of them in their press section.  When it was announced that Erin Featherston would be designing for Target as part of their Go International collection with past designers including Luella Bartley, Proenza Schouler and with forthcoming collections from Alice Temperley, there was the general question of ‘Eh?  But she’s SOooo new…?’  To that, I would say, ‘Well that’s PRECISELY why she has signed on for a collaboration with a big corporation like Target…’  By pairing up with high street chains, the young designers have a handy stash of cash to fund their mainline collections and really go for their ambitions.  Christopher Kane and Marios Schwab, both relatively new did successful collections for Topshop despite their names not being household.  Such is the growing population of fash-saavy consumers I guess. 

So you’ve seen the pics.  But what I really want to know is…. is it me or is there an overload of sickeningly, overly saccharine cuteness here?  I’m all for a touch of the Lolita, a smattering of kawaii, a small cry of ‘Ho cutie ar!!!!!!’ (Canto speakers will get that….).  But a model donning a heavy fringed blonde wig (again, are you similarly creeped out that the model has been made up to look like Ms. Featherston herself?) donning an abundance of hearts, peter pan collars, babydolls, tiers and bibs is all just a little too literal for my tastes.  Forcefully taking some of the pieces out of the cutesy context would do them good but still the thing I always liked about Erin Featherston was that even though her design aesthetic was girly and sweet, she never tried to ram it down your throat in an obvious way.

Bearing in mind the target age group is about 15-25 yrs old, I’m thinking had I fallen into the lower end of that category, I’d be hipping and hurraying all over the joint.  However, seeing as I missed the boat and when I was 15, designer collaborations with high street stores were something of a non-entity, it seems that even though I’m quite a fan of Featherston’s work and the lady herself (her Parisian apartment gets shoved in my face in mags all the time…. peeking into her home one too many times makes me feel she would be sweet as pie to get to know), the only thing I’m liking about this Target collection is the fact that it will give her funding to aid her mainline collections.

26 comments

  1. I don’t like it. She’s taking her signiature aesthetic and watering it down. Proenza Schouler’s Target collection was lovely, because it stayed absolutely true to the kind of designs they make anyway, but it was more every-day.

  2. i think the cutesy factor might be upped because of the way these girls have been styled and the general coy/cute air the models are giving off and the weird wigs.
    i think the stuff could look cute juxtisposed against other less cutesy stuff on other people…i.e. reinterpreted in a way other than how they are being marketed. i am going to at least take a peep at them when they come to the stores, as i do have a bit of a penchant for the cute. 😛

  3. wow! i must admit i’ve never heard of erin featherston (eep!), but i love this. wish target would release her line in australia!
    i’ve added you to the links on my blog, hope that’s ok. i’d love it if you’d check it out!
    http://www.beeboppa.blogspot.com
    hugs beth

  6. I like this collection very much- I guess girliness is my que. But, the model did ruin it a bit for me. If they didn’t go with the blonde wig and everything, I think the girliness would’ve been toned down…

  7. I have to say i do like it. I agree that on their own, and without the styling, the individual peices would be less girly and would work quite well. Shame i will never get to actually try on the peices seeing as i live in Australia. I am going to go and have another one of my whinges about how nothing cool is available in this place….!

  8. i really like all the dresses in the middle photos. and i need that heart purse. but id mix them with darker pieces.

  9. That’s precisely what I thought when I saw the pictures. The only things that look worth it are the red shorts and the scarf, perhaps the heart bag. The rest is like eating a cupcake drizzled in pure saccharine syrup AND dunked in powdered sugar.

  10. I never liked Erin Fetherson’s work because she seemed to me to jumping on the bandwagon for overly-pretty, borderline infantile clothes when it was trendy at the time (05/06?). Also, I have a problem with grown women dressing like they’re six, and to be honest, her whole girly-bangs-Peter-Pan-collar thing is getting tired (Alice Ritter did it better). I do hope she comes up with something new for her next collection.

  11. I love Erin Fetherston. I think she is very cute in person. Although the clothes are not suitable for me. I think it suits those still can enjoy their lovely childhood.

  13. i do agree with the general consensus on the wig and saccharine sweet styling being too much… but i do really like that red dress. It’s quite like a dress gap did this season in blue and white that i wear constantly, so having a slightly different one in such a pop of a colour would be good. the heart leggings are way too much for me though…

  14. i do agree with the general consensus on the wig and saccharine sweet styling being too much… but i do really like that red dress. It’s quite like a dress gap did this season in blue and white that i wear constantly, so having a slightly different one in such a pop of a colour would be good. the heart leggings are way too much for me though…

  15. it doesn’t help matters that they have been styled on the children of the corn. the middle dresses could be chic on the right people, and teamed with the right accessories (killer heels and latex stockings, perhaps?).
    that wig is attrocious. it’s like alice in wonderland gay pride drag bad.
    love,
    Alex.

  16. I feel the poses makes it all “whoa back off lolita, you aint that cute.” Its really weird, everytime i look at her lookbook, i love it but then you just have to back off because it can be too much.

  17. i have to admit, i do lust for the red shorts, and the cocoon coat/sweater thingy ain’t bad either, but the rest of it gives me a throbbing toothache. creepy children of the corn flashbacks as well.
    btw, thanks so much for the link love, susie! although it was to my most phoned-in post of the month, i’m all starry-eyed and very grateful!

  18. I actually really REALLY like it. It’s cute. And I love cute! Obviously, I would need to wear the pieces with something edgy to avoid looking like a 10 year old, but I think the pieces themselves are lovely. I can’t stand the heart printed pieces though! Too TOO much!

  19. although I do have a weakness for cute things and an appreciation for Erin Fetherson’s aesthetic, this collection is complete overkill.
    especially because I am a petite girl, wearing pieces like the navy and white minidress and the navy jumper will make me look like an 8 year-old.
    P.S. love the “ho cutie ar!” reference

  20. I’m 15 and I would buy the coat on the first line, and all of the dresses on the second line.
    Oooh look at me, I’m so conformist.

  22. I’m glad someone finally said something! I don’t get the relevance of this line to its target demographic. I might be 1 or 2 years outside of that, but it seems like a literal translation of the stuff that’s already been interpreted by Forever 21 – which doesn’t seem appropriate for this kind of line.

  23. I love this! But then again I love anything and everything cute. Perhaps it is styled as being “overly precious” but the pieces on their own have the potential to appear less saccharine and more wearable, if combined differently. I definitely want a few of the dresses.

  24. I LOVE IT!
    Especially 3, 5, 6, 7 and 8. Nothing in my wardrobe is cutesy enough. I’d love to look like it was Valentine’s day all the time!

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