Miley Cyrus is a teen star number one and Max Azria is a couture designer the whole world loves. What can be in common between these two people? Of course, fashion!
It was Wal-Mart which unites the two for a fashion line affordable for usual customers. The line that is called Miley Cyrus & Max Azria will include pants, tops, graphic T-shirts, shoes, and accessories. All items will be priced under $20.
For Miley it is quite clear why she agreed for the collaboration. First of all she improves her own image making it more respectable and sophisticated working with a world-known designer. Secondly, she is making steps towards more serious audience, that is significant too.
Besides, her own popularity will grow along with her profits. Actually Miley is already a top-selling recording artist at Wal-Mart, where much of her teen audience already shops, so the collaboration will provoke even more interest from customers than ever.
Miley herself is very happy about the teaming up. At her Twitter page she wrote:
I love creating looks that are all about personal expression and individuality.”
Collaborating with Max Azria has been an amazing experience, and I’m really excited about launching this line with Walmart. There’s even more to come!”
Well, and what about Max Azria? Why did he decide to work with Miley? He is a designer best known for the stylish BCBGMAXAZRIA line, whose mission is “innovative, high-quality clothing at realistic price points.” But Azria’s definition of “realistic” is rather flexible: his T-shirts start at a relatively cheap $38, but most BCBG tops are in the $100 to $200 range.
Nevertheless, Max says:
Miley Cyrus is talented and approachable, so working with her sparked a line that is authentic and vibrant.”
Probably he really wants to enliven his creativity with the help of Hanna Montana star. She is young and interesting and can offer something absolutely new and unexpected.
But what definitely brings benefits to Max Azria is pairing with Wal-Mart. While Azria’s last retail partner, Nordstrom, has a far more affluent clientele than Wal-Mart, co-branding is clearly becoming an important way to widen his reach. Wal-Mart is a new territory for Azria, and thus Miley who is quite popular there can do a lot to achieve the goal.
Besides, working with Wal-Mart is important for the designer because with the huge effect of the economic downturn his ordinary customers have to economize and thus Wal-Mart is a pretty wise move.
The pairing also makes sense for Wal-Mart, positioned as a chain for consumers living in all-the-time saving. The financial crisis made the stores more popular. And though the $20 price point is high for the store, it is quite low for many new Wal-Mart customers. So, the idea of working together is advantageous for all the three partners. Hope it will work!
By the way, the collection will become available in August in stores and at Walmart.com.
