Cheryl Shops

Two important news bites
After months of speculation, a formal announcement was made today that Phoebe Philo is leaving Chloe. This is important because not only has she produced critically acclaimed and commercially successful collections for Chloe, but she also jump-started their accessories business with the much-in-demand (and oft-copied) Paddington and Silverado handbags. (Phoebe also sparked much speculation that she was the real design talent behind Stella McCartney's tenure at the label.) So why is she walking away from such an influential, lucrative job? To basically be a stay-at-home mom...which the family-lover in me appreciates, but the femininst kind of doesn't. In the meantime, her design team (who handled duties while Phoebe was on maternity leave) is handling the fall 2006 collection; Roland Mouret is rumored to be in the running to replace her. I say, if it ain't broke, don't fix it: Why not just keep the design team in place?

In other news, Proenza Schouler is rumored to be hopping on the Target bandwagon. From yesterday's WWD:

THE NEXT BIG TARGET: Could Proenza Schouler's Jack McCollough and
Lazaro Hernandez be Target's next design stars? The fashion duo is said to
have held talks with the Minneapolis-based chain about creating an exclusive
lower-priced line. A deal could still be months away, but if it came to fruition,
McCollough and Hernandez would follow in the footsteps of designers such
as Isaac Mizrahi and Cynthia Rowley and labels such as Fiorucci.
The Proenza Schouler line for Target will likely be part of the
discounter's new "Go International" initiative, which, like Hennes &
Mauritz's outings with Karl Lagerfeld and Stella McCartney, features
limited-edition collections from established designers. Target, which
is said to be in talks with several international designers, is expected
to launch Go next month with a collection by Luella Bartley.

Now, I'm waiting to see if women are camping out overnight at Target for Luella Bartley's collection next moth. I'm guessing no (Luella Bartley is no Stella McCartney), but if this Proenza Schouler thing works out, I'll be on the 2/3 train out to Brooklyn at 8 a.m., mark my words.