Affordable for Anyone

A number of celebrities have launched fashion collections over the past two years—especially in the latter half of 2018—that are firmly focused on affordability:

• Comedian Amy Schumer and stylist and costume designer Leesa Evans launched Le Cloud Collection with Saks Off Fifth in December. Some of the proceeds will go to Community Partners’ STYLEFUND project. The size-inclusive line includes mix-and-match separates, from tops to outerwear, meant to work at all times of day or night, with prices ranging from $38 to $248.
• Also in December, Martha Stewart announced that she was working with Payless on an affordable Martha Everyday collection of footwear, with plans for styles such as flats, stilettos, slingbacks, and mules. Prices range from $17.99 to $20.99.
• Ellen DeGeneres launched her latest signature product line with Walmart in September under the EV1 brand. All the items under the label, which is offered in sizes XS to XXXL and encompasses jeans, jackets, sneakers, accessories, and more, retails for $30 or less. The full collection—including a first wave of 60 pieces and a follow-up vegan holiday assortment of 44 more—is available online, with some items also in stores.
• Kendall and Kylie Jenner said in June that they had partnered with 250-store chain Ardene, a fast-fashion retailer based in Montreal, marking the sisters’ first deal with a Canadian store. The long-term agreement calls for repeated capsule collections for Gen Z consumers, starting with 77 pieces released in summer 2018. Prices range from $14.90 to $59.90 Canadian (about $10.95 to $43.90 U.S.).
• Heidi Klum paired with supermarket chain Lidl in 2017 for an affordable line of apparel and accessories in the U.K., Europe, and North America. In the U.S., the 70 items in the initial collection in fall 2017 retailed for $6.99 to $49.99, the latter for a leather jacket. As of fall 2018, Lidl had introduced five Klum collections.

Celebrities creating signature apparel for the lower tiers of retail is nothing new, of course. Companies such as H&M and Topshop have partnered with designers and personalities to bring high-end style to the masses; Target, Walmart, and Kmart have paired with celebrities and others for low-priced direct-to-retail lines; and regional discounters have dipped their toes into affordable collaborations, going back to now-defunct Goody’s with Ashley Judd in 2007.

What’s different about most of the current crop of deals is that they are driven (at least in part) specifically by the concept of affordability as a component of inclusivity. Most of the launches mentioned here are intentionally focusing on a broad audience that includes consumers of all sizes and shapes, all ethnicities, all types of gender identification, and, increasingly, all income levels.

In fact, many of the celebrities and their partners involved in the deals listed above have, in interviews to support their product launches, specifically stressed the affordability of their respective lines—along with other forms of inclusivity and diversity—as a means of making stylish items accessible to “real women.”