COLLABORATION ANTICIPATION: About Last Night's 3.1 Phillip Lim
For Target Launch Party
For Target Launch Party
September 6, 2013
As The Shophound was waiting in a very long line last night to pay for our purchases at the launch party for Target's 3.1 Phillip Lim collaboration collection, it occurred to us that we might have spent less time in line if we had actually just waited until next Sunday for the collection to launch in stores or online.
But then, we wouldn't have had the hors d'oeuvres, would we?
And, of course, we wouldn't have been shopping alongside Jessica Alba, Solange Knowles, new fun couple Nate Berkus and Jeremiah Brent, Maria Sharapova, E!'s George Kotsiopolous and Perez Hilton.
Well, we, and probably everyone else could have lived without seeing Perez Hilton in his weird, sheer tight tank top (or at all, really, ugh), but he came with the deal. And, truth be told, we are pretty sure that the celebrities got whatever Phillip Lim for Target duds they wanted sent directly to them and didn't have to wait in any checkout lines, especially since most of them were already wearing the collection. Nevertheless, we were definitely at the same party as they were at the same time, which is what matters, really.
Aside from the clothes and celebrities, the party also debut the Target "Stylescape" (pictured below), a panoramic, interactive video installation that showed off Lim's collection on a cast of notable individuals all photographed on the same day in several different North American cities. it provided a striking backdrop, but mostly everyone was focused on frenzied shopping.
We were prepared for some serious queueing up for the evening, arriving there a comfortable 30 minutes early mainly because, before we realized all the celebrities were there, our main concern was getting ahold of one of the $29.99 camouflage patterned backpacks from the collection. We were not the first person there at all, but thanks to planning ahead, the line to get inside Spring Studio in TriBeca snaked down Varick Street long behind us by the time they started admitting guests promptly at 7 PM, and, in fact, we did manage to snag one of the last backpacks, so... success! Even though The Shophound has been to many a press preview and pre-shopping event for these designer collaboration lines from Target, H&M and others (and we don't mean to sound jaded because we fully appreciate being invited to these things), this was the first time we had found ourselves at the glitzy, paparazzi-fueled celebrity launch. It turns out that the non-celebs really care more about loading their arms and stuffing those mesh shopping totes with as many pieces of the line as they can than they do about the glittery VIP guests. There is nothing that will trump some people's voracious hunter/gatherer instinct. As we arrived into the party area, guests were already deep into ransacking the stock faster than Target staffers could replenish it, and things only got more chaotic as the room filled up. Popular items included the exceedingly well-priced handbags, trenchcoats, party dresses and small leather accessories. During our extended checkout wait, a staffer replenishing the assortment of scarves was nearly trampled as shoppers swiftly emptied his stash and the chiffon squares flew every which way. We finally made it out feeling thoroughly satisfied with our backpack plus the camo-pattened T-shirt and sweatpants all for well under $100 (and, of course, a dinner's worth of tiny snacks being passed around on trays). Given the response to the collection, we suggest that interested shoppers get up early next Sunday morning if they want to get the best pieces. Have fun, and bring our own hors d'oeuvres. We'll be sleeping in.
Have a few more looks at the party scene in our gallery below
Comments