Target taps into the minds behind Libertine

Had a chance to catch up with the folks from Target over breakfast the other day and learned that they have some amazing collaborations coming up as part of the GO International program that’s already brought us cheap-chic collections from Proenza Schouler, Paul & Joe and Luella Bartley. On July 15, they’ll roll out pieces from Libertine designed by L.A.’s very own Johnson Hartig and his New York-based partner, Cindy Greene. Of course there will be plenty of the Victorian, skull-laden imagery that adorns their high-end collection sold at Maxfield here and Jeffrey in New York, only at much friendlier prices.

On the same day, Target also will launch a new limited-edition designer accessories program beginning with Devi Kroell, who won the Swarovski Perry Ellis Award for Accessory Design last year from the Council of Fashion Designers of America. The New York designer made her name on outsize metallic python hobo bags, which cost $2,000 or more. But for Target, she’ll be working in “PU” (that’s polyurethane, if you’re not a chemistry major).

Fine jeweler Dominique Cohen is up next in August with rings, necklaces and brooches at a fraction of the price of her own line, which sells at her newly opened Robertson Boulevard boutique, among other places. Hooray!