COLLABORATION ANTICIPATION: FLOTUS Favorite Sophie Theallet Teams With The Limited This Holiday Season

The designer collaboration train continues to roll on with some new names entering the race. The latest announcement features Sophie Theallet, the French-born, New York based designer who will be launching an ongoing, exclusive label with The Limited starting this November. Theallet, who has none other than Jean Paul Gaultier and Azzedine Alaïa on her list of previous bosses, has also become one of the designers that First Lady Michelle Obama often turns to for her signature feminine yet modern dresses. It is not the first collaboration for the designer, who has done capsules for Nine West and Gap in recent years or Limited, which during its 80s heyday experimented with exclusive lines from the likes Kenzo and Krizia at a time when such flirtations between exclusive designers and mass-market retailers were not as well received by the industry.

So far, no specific details about the collection have been revealed, but Theallet tells WWD that she is looking forward to, “bringing the luxurious nonchalance of my aesthetic to an affordable price point. I like that challenge…to make the best product possible,” while The Limited execs hope to put the collection in as many locations as it can. By the end of the year, it is expected that the chain will have expanded to 260 doors. Should it prove successful it should be a big profile raiser for the independent Theallet and help the continuing revival of The Limited (which is no longer owned by Victoria's Secret parent company Limited Brands Inc.) as new management pushes it back towards the heights it reached in past decades.

The Limited Partners With Sophie Theallet for Exclusive Collection (WWD)
Sophie Theallet (Official Site)
The Limited (Official Site)