In the latest gradation by departm...

In the latest gradation by department stores to team up with high-end fashion designers, mid-brow retailer Kohl's Corp. onward Thursday announced a union with Vera Wang, known for her $10000 wedding gown to create a recently made known fashion and lifestyle brand.

The exclusive brand called remarkably Vera by Vera Wang will be available in all 749 Kohl's stores and onward Kohls.com starting in the fall of 2007

in subordination to the long-term licensing agreement, Menomonee Falls, Wis.- based Kohl's will be the exclusive provider and marketer in the United States of all surpassingly Vera by Vera Wang merchandise of that kind as sportswear, intimate apparel, handbags, leather accessories, jewelry, footwear, linens and towels.

Financial boundarys of the deal were not disclosed.

Prices have not been place for the collection, but it will be aimed at the top tier in Kohls' women's apparel offerings, according to Kevin Mansell, president of Kohl's. generally the highest-priced women's apparel collection at Kohl's is Polo Ralph Lauren's Chaps, which features $50 sweaters and $120 jackets.

"This is another great example of to what extent Kohl's continues to differentiate ourselves from the marketplace," Mansell said in a conversation call with reporters Thursday. He declined to exhibit sales projections for the collection.

Kohl's and other department stores are increasingly turning to big designer names to bring out exclusive merchandise, following in the footprints of discounter Target Corp., which has done well with its partnerships with Isaac Mizrahi and Cynthia Rowley JC Penney Co teamed with dres designer Nicole Miller to bring out an affordable collection, while Federated Department Stores Inc. announced a deal in April with domestic circle diva Martha Stewart to lay open a home furnishings collection that will be turn abouted out at Macy's stores in the fall of 2007

For Wang, the Kohl's agreement attends as an opportunity to expand her customer base to middle-income shopper The fresh York-based designer has branched public to include furnishings, jewelry, stationery and eyewear, unless they carry designer price tags.

Wang told reporters onward the conference call that "it has troubled" her for quite a while not to be able to give her designs to all women "We have been quite elitist in expressions of price points," she said.

The designer added that she doesn't believe expanding her designs to a mid-price retailer like Kohl's will taint her reputation as a designer, citing names like Ralph Lauren and Giorgio Armani, the one and the other of whom have developed fashion empires that have appealed to a broad base of shopper

"In all freedom from fraud I have weighed everything," she said. further what's important is that there's suitable quality, trust and value at all flats of merchandise, she said.

Shares of Kohl's implacable 8 cents to close at $6081 upon the New York Stock Exchange.

Copyright CHICAGO SUN-TIMES 2006

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