Photo: Target
Gabriella Karefa-Johnson’s new collection with Target is a bit like kismet.
The celebrity stylist, who has worked with the likes ofGigi HadidandSerena Williamsand styled thelatestVoguecover with Florence Pugh, has early memories of filling her closet with Target’s special collections.
“I wore a Target and Peter Pilotto blouse to my first interview atVogue, because that was the way that I could access fashion,” she says of the retailer’s 2014 designer collaboration. “I didn’t have any money, I wasn’t exposed to luxury fashion at that point, and I just wanted style within my reach.”
Target
Comprised of nearly 100 different pieces, Karefa-Johnson’s Future Collective clothing will all be under $50 and range in size from XXS to 4X and 00 to 30 — all of which was important to Karefa-Johnson while creating the collection.
“This collection is a reflection of my taste and my style, but also, felt like a collection where anyone could find something for themselves,” she says, adding that accessibility and approachability were key. “We’re not afraid of showing our bodies anymore; we’re over this hiding moment. It’s really about embracing our personal style and also having fun with fashion.”
As someone who says she’s ranged in size from 10 to 22, Karefa-Johnson had size inclusivity top of mind when imagining silhouettes. She shares that her “complicated relationship” with figuring out what to wear has evolved into a place where she’d rather celebrate her body than hide it, and she wants people who shop her collection to do the same.
“Growing up I was like, ‘Where can I find a tent? I just want a tent, I want to cover myself,'” she shares. “Then I realized there’s no reason to lean into that narrative about a silhouette. Clothes should be fun, flirty. The entire concept is, ‘Let’s get people excited about getting dressed in the morning. Let’s maybe bring some people out of their comfort zones.'”
While Karefa-Johnson looked to her own style in designing the collection, she also stepped outside herself, picturing her family and friends, when she was coming up with all the pieces that would eventually arrive in stores.
“My ethos is fashion is a source of joy for me, and I think it’s a source of frustration for a lot of other people,” Karefa-Johnson tells PEOPLE. “Whatever I could do to infuse my joy for fashion into this collection, I did, and I think color is a perfect medium to communicate that.”
Part of her role as a stylist, though, is to guide people to choose clothes that they love, while providing them with amazing options to choose from.
“You can always make the clothes and people will come, but it was also important for me to show people how to style it, because that’s my trade, that’s what I do,” she says. “I want to be able to give some suggestions but also let people have fun. If somebody can get something from this collection, put it on and feel like a million bucks, my job is done.”
Karefa-Johnson took her expertise and really focused on creating something that would make people look and feel good in their clothes. “I think in the ways that we put combos together in suggested styling is really where my expertise got to sing,” she adds.
Karefa-Johnson’s collection with Target has been in the works for about a year, and the stylist shares that she appreciated the working relationship with the retailer that led to a cohesive collection. “I just really appreciated hearing their insights and building a marriage between what I love about fashion and what they know so expertly about their guest,” she says.
And even though it was hard for her, at times, to remove herself from the process and think about the collection more holistically and universally, coming back to the thought that her family and friends would eventually wear these clothes made it easier for her to focus her ideas.
“The biggest challenge was trying to extricate the hyper-personal part of it and make it a little bit more reflective of what I want the world to look like, not just what I want to put on my body,” she says. “I was picturing the people in my life who have engaged with Target and then I was also picturing people who maybe haven’t been to Target, who don’t think of Target as a fashion destination. Maybe this could be something that pushes them out that door and they could see all of the huge design talent that exists there already.”
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Karefa-Johnson’s hope for this collection is that people have fun with it and make it their own. She’s created pieces that can be worn in an endless number of ways and on a variety of body types. “The idea of diversity in the ways you can style these things was really important to me,” she says, pointing to basic pieces like a blazer and T-shirt bodysuit that can be dressed up or down and a body-skimming dress that can be sized up for a flowier feel.
“It’s malleability, versatility, accessibility — the cornerstones of the collection,” Karefa-Johnson says. “What I’m so excited about is to walk into a Target and see how people respond. Iama Target shopper, and I was a Target shopper before I got into the fashion business, and I’m going to be one long after.”
source: people.com
