2015 Preview: Collaboration Predictions－fashion latest

High-low collaborations are no longer a trend. They’re just reality. For most fashion brands and mass retailers, collaborations take up a tiny part of the big-picture marketing strategy. One that happens to get a particular group of shoppers very, very excited. While these sorts of partnerships are often cemented more than a year before they hit the sales floor, here’s who we’re hoping joins up with the two most significant collaborators in 2015.

TARGET

The design-driven big box isn’t afraid to spotlight brands that might not yet be household names: Recent collaborators Peter Pilotto and Joseph Altuzarra certainly gained some new followers in Middle America. But Target does tend to favor designers who can turn out colorful wares with a pop appeal. Its just-announced first collaboration of the year, with Palm Beach prep queen Lilly Pulitzer, proves the point. Here’s hoping one of these will be next on the retailer’s list:

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Opening Ceremony

Humberto Leon and Carol Lim have already worked plenty with Target, selling several of its designer collabs at their stores (including Proenza Schouler way back when). The duo’s trend-driven, club-kid-cool collection doesn’t need much tweaking to work on a mass level. And if Leon and Lim are serious about opening stores in just about every major city in the country, then getting the OC name out there isn’t a terrible idea.

Band of Outsiders

The meta-preppy brand designed fashion-themed cookie cutters for Target and Neiman Marcus’ holiday partnership a few years ago, but it’d be nice to see some of L.A.-based designer Scott Sternberg’s color-blocked oxford shirts and floaty floral dresses on the floor, as well. We’re envisioning Polaroid-inspired commercials starring Jason Schwartzman and Kirsten Dunst.

Jacquemus

A bit of a wild card, but don’t count Parisian designer Simon Porte Jacquemus out. His playful, humorous take on fashion dovetails nicely with Target’s bright-and-cheerful messaging. Plus, just about every American girl thinks she wants to dress like a French girl. So there’s that.

H&M

Sweden’s fast-fashion king likes to make a major spectacle out of its collaborations, which means it works harder and harder every year to secure a marquee brand as its partner. Since there is a 99.99999 percent chance that Mrs. Prada will never give in and that Phoebe Philo is almost just as unlikely, here are our picks for actual possibilities:

Chloé

Creative director Clare Waight Keller has done a good job of keeping Chloé’s 1970s codes looking fresh. Given fashion’s current obsession with the decade, this is the best year ever to bring her scalloped-edged dresses and runway-worthy denim to a new audience. (The horsey handbags would do well, too.)

Marc Jacobs

For years, it was thought that Marc Jacobs was steering clear of collaborations because the prices were just too close to his contemporary line, MBMJ. But things change, and contemporary designers like Phillip Lim and Alexander Wang have proven that it can work. Given that Jacobs is in the midst of prepping his namesake empire for a potential listing on the stock market, it makes perfect sense that he would want to introduce even more fashion fans to his work.

Saint Laurent

At this point, there’s no denying the appeal of Hedi Slimane's work at Saint Laurent—or that it’s selling. Why not throw a bone to his fleet of followers who can’t drop four figures on a leather jacket?