MISSONI MADNESS: Judging from the posts on the Target Style Facebook page, the mass market’s upcoming Missoni for Target collection is generating big demand — and the line isn’t scheduled to launch until Sept. 13. “I am way too excited about the Missoni line,” wrote a fan named Melinda. “It is soo gorgeous! Everyone loves it so I am sure it will sell out immediately.” If Melinda lives anywhere near Manhattan, she can get first dibs on the collection on Sept. 8, when a Missoni for Target pop-up store opens on Fashion’s Night Out at 6 p.m. at 1095 Sixth Avenue near Bryant Park. Angela Missoni and Margherita Maccapani Missoni will be on hand, posing for family portrait-style photos with the first 20 guests who spend more than $100. All portrait images will be uploaded to the Target Style page on Facebook.
Also expected is Marina, a young girl from Varese in northern Italy — Maccapani Missoni’s home town — who was hired by the retailer to blog about the Missoni launch during fashion week and who refers to Maccapani Missoni as “my BFF Margherita.” Target followers will remember the location as the site of the Target + Liberty of London temporary shop back in March 2010. The 5,285-square-foot space was transformed into an indoor garden with over 12,000 live flowers and digital projections of Liberty of London prints onto larger-than-life size products such as a giant tea cup. The cross-category Missoni for Target collection with 400 items — compared to Liberty’s 300 — is the largest in the retailer’s history of designer partnerships, with apparel for men, women, girls and baby, luggage, home furnishings and beauty products, ranging in price from $2.99 to $599.