Target teams up with Diane von Furstenberg for its next limited-time collection

Diane von Furstenberg is bringing her signature wrap dresses — and much more — to Target this spring.

The Minneapolis-based retailer announced Tuesday that its next limited-time design collaboration will be with the legendary designer. The special collection made for Target, and at Target-like prices, will include more than 200 pieces in clothing, accessories, beauty and home.

Items will start at $4, and most will be under $50. It hits stores and Target’s website on March 23.

Carol Spieckerman, a retail consultant, noted this announcement comes just days after Target presented a new bargain-oriented brand called Dealworthy with prices starting at $1. It also recently said it has made major upgrades to one of its other big value-based private-label brands, Up&Up.

“It would seem that the Diane von Furstenberg announcement is meant to perhaps serve as a counterbalance to that to demonstrate that, ‘Hey, we’re not just doubling down on the cheap everyday essentials business,’” she said.

Target’s strategy has long been to walk a tricky line between offering both value and good design as encapsulated by its motto, “expect more, pay less.”

These limited-time collaborations, aimed at the “expect more” part of that equation, are one of the hallmarks of Target and have help cement its reputation as a cheap-chic big box retailer. Other popular collections it has released through the years have been with Missoni, Lilly Pulitzer and Jason Wu. This is the 25th anniversary of its first design partnership with architect Michael Graves.

Some of its more recent partnerships have been with up-and-coming designers who are not yet household names.

With von Furstenberg, Target has tapped a designer who has been on the scene for decades and appeals to older shoppers. But it remains to be seen how much she will do so with Target’s younger shoppers, Spieckerman added.

Through the years, executives have said these design partnerships are more aimed at creating buzz and driving shoppers to the store than about making or breaking a quarter in terms of sales. But Target could use a sales boost.

The retailer’s sales have slid for the last two quarters as budget-strapped consumers grappling with inflation and the return of student loan payments have cut back on shopping at Target. Meanwhile, its chief rival, Walmart, has continued to post strong sales.

This is also the 50th anniversary of von Furstenberg’s famous wrap dress. The designer launched her brand in the 1970s.

Von Furstenberg teamed up with her granddaughter, Talita von Furstenberg, who is co-chair of her namesake brand, on the collection for Target. They dug into the archives for some of the prints, but there are also some new patterns and pieces including matching mommy-and-me outfits and fresh spins on activewear and tabletop.

“Talita and I are proud to partner with Target to extend that invitation to even more women who want to experience timeless pieces that bring effortless glamour and empowerment to their everyday lives,” von Furstenberg said in a statement.

In a first for a Target design collaboration, it will also include made-to-order furniture such as headboards, benches and room dividers that can be customized in one of seven fabrics, starting at $300. The items will be assembled and shipped within four weeks.

“Our partnership with Diane and Talita von Furstenberg represents Target at our best — curating an amazing and distinct assortment and offering it at exceptional prices,” Jill Sando, an executive vice president at Target, said in a statement.

Von Furstenberg told Vogue that she’s already been carrying around for months one of the tote bags with a black and white vintage wave pattern from the yet-to-launch collection.

And while the fabric used for the wrap dresses for Target are different from those used in her own brand, she told the magazine that the “price is ridiculous” at $50.