From Business Insider · Dominick Reuter · · 1m 20s
Target gives dress code a designer spin
Target is bringing Isaac Mizrahi back into its stores with optional red workwear for employees.
In brief
Target is bringing Isaac Mizrahi back into its stores with optional red workwear for employees. Target is using fashion to make a stricter employee dress code feel more polished, more branded, and less like a rule handed down from above. Originally reported by Business Insider.
A redder dress code
Target workers now have tighter outfit rules: blue or beige pants, plus tops in the chain's signature red. The goal is to make staff easier for shoppers to spot.
“Dress code is important because we want our team members to be recognizable to our guests.”
Mizrahi joins the uniform
Target is offering an employee-only apparel line in bullseye red, shaped by Isaac Mizrahi. It nods to the old 'Tar-zhay' image that made Target feel stylish and affordable.
Cheap, optional pieces
The 16-piece Collection 186 starts at $10 before employee discounts. It goes on sale October 5, with some limited items gone for good if they sell out.
More than basic vests
The line includes performance shirts, track jackets, cardigans, blazers, and vests. Employees can still buy dress-code-friendly clothes anywhere, or borrow basic store vests.
A little swagger
Target says the collection is meant to serve both practical workers and fashion-minded ones. Leaders want employees to feel the clothes were made for them.
“It's also to create that feeling of a little bit of swagger.”
Design as support
Mizrahi returned this summer as creative director at large. Target is betting that better-looking workwear can help employees match the higher service standard it now wants.
“If we're going to be asking our team to elevate the experience, we need to be supporting them to do that.”
At a glance
Target is using fashion to make a stricter employee dress code feel more polished, more branded, and less like a rule handed down from above.
