This month, the fashion industry reflects on Yves Saint Laurent and his masterful  contributions to today's (and Tomorrow's) style. It was his imagination that assisted Christian Dior in unveiling the first A-line and "bubble dress" designs in the mid-1950s; Dior was so impressed with the young designer's innovations that upon his sudden death in 1957, St. Laurent took the place of his mentor, heading what was Paris' largest couture house at the age of 21. He opened his Rive Gauche (Ready-to-Wear) boutique in 1966, making him the first couture designer to focus on ready-to-wear.
Little did he know how many labels would be doing this today. Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein are two of the longest-running establishments who house several ready-to-wear lines along with their namesake collections. Georgio Armani, who had been designing ready-to-wear since 1975, started Emporio Armani, Armani Jeans and shopping-mall favorite A/X Armani Exchange, offering cutting-edge and casual designs with relaxed price tags. Other bridge lines, such as DKNY, created a runway's worth of followers. Department stores have been filled with this popular niche for over a decade; Marc by Marc Jacobs, D&G, and See by Chloe are among prominent ready-to-wear that appeals most to the contemporary set. These collections are valuable in that they generate sales that companies wouldn't see without these younger, more affordable versions of couture creations.
The "more affordable" has become even more affordable in recent years, thanks to  mass market retailers such as Target. Starting with Todd Oldham, the former runway king who brought his furniture and home creations to the store in 2002; Cynthia Rowley followed his lead with her bath and tableware collections one year later. Isaac Mizrahi rocked all audiences of the fashion industry, however, when he partnered with Target for their first of many women's ready-to-wear and accessories collections in 2003. This three-time CFDA award-winner ended his relationship with the bull's-eye giant this year (his merchandise will still be in stores until late 2008), but his industry peers have opened up to this popular, and profitable, venture (the Target/Mizrahi alliance reportedly sold as much as $300 million each year). Stella McCartney-- who also designs collections for H&M and Adidas, along with her signature line-- released a small limited-edition collection for Target Australia; Zac Posen followed suit in 2007, with an even more exclusive collection of dresses released in only 75 stores. These appearances has the female consumer flooding sources like Ebay in hopes of getting her hands on these (gasp!) wallet-friendly collector's items (Australian Target is a subsidiary of Target Corporation, and not related to the US stores). Get ready: Australian designer Collette Dinnigan, who has dressed the A-list (Halle and Angelina, amongst others) premiered her Wild Hearts collection of Lingerie Designs this year, making her the latest to team with the retailer (See the Wild Hearts collection at www.designersfortarget.com.au). It is almost certain that more big names will be introduced, hopefully with easier access to the US audiences.
Besides  McCartney, H&M has seen the likes of Karl Lagerfeld and Roberto Cavalli since 2007; Nicole Miller's collection for JCPenney is currently going strong. Just as YSL reinvented womens' wardrobes with Rive Gauche, this "cheap chic" craze has opened more eyes to the sights of high fashion. If not for his retirement in 2002, perhaps the man once named the "crown prince" of Dior would also have reigned over mass-market retail.
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