Stella McCartney’s new GapKids line hits select stores today
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Not only does Stella McCartney run her 8-year-old eponymous fashion house, she’s the mother of three young children. So a Stella McCartney collection for GapKids and BabyGap should surprise no one.
Today, the collection for newborns to kids age 12 hits the racks in select Gap stores, including the former Gap 1969 pop-up on Robertson Boulevard, which will open as a GapKids shop beginning Thursday through Nov. 28.
The 70-piece Stella McCartney for Gap collection includes wardrobe elements that any mother of young ones would plead for: easy-care items such as denim jeans (both skinny and flare-leg styles for girls), T- shirts, sweat pants and hoodies mixed in with fun and fashionable pieces.
‘I think this collection has a mix of the playful and practical. It’s a reflection of my brand; there are pieces that are classic and very sort of timeless and hopefully very chic, and then there are pieces that are the kind you chuck in the washing machine and they get better with time and, you know, they are funny and hopefully a little bit cool,’ McCartney said.
The dress-up pieces your kids will tug off the Gap racks are a trendy military Miller-style jacket ($128), boys’ superhero T-shirt ($28) and high-top sneakers ($48) that come with optional colored markers for personalization. For girls, check out the tulle tutu ($58) and leopard-face intarsia sweater ($98). ‘The Miller naval-inspired jacket for both boys and girls is too cool for school,’ the 38-year-old designer said.
McCartney, who has two sons, designed the collection with as many outfits for boys as for girls. She pairs the sturdy sweat pants ($78) with school-ready looks, including a double-face plaid shirt ($38) and a chambray puff jacket ($88). For holiday dressing, a mandarin-collar dress shirt ($38) can work with a trench coat ($78).
For adult fans of the Stella McCartney label, the girls’ collection features mini-me looks mixed in with basics. A charcoal cable-knit cardigan ($78) recalls a classic 1970s wrap style -- the designer grew up in that Paul McCartney and Wings decade, which she often mines for inspiration. Holiday looks include a stylish tuxedo jacket ($78) and a bow-belt coat ($128). Two basic little-girl silk dresses come in neutral colors, prints and ruffles like those from past Stella McCartney ready-to-wear collections.
McCartney says she took up the offer from Gap to design a kids and infant collection because she believes that children’s clothing should be accessibly priced (the collection starts at $14 for tights). And, like her designer collection, the lifelong vegetarian’s GapKids collection is completely leather- and fur-free and employs organic cotton and non-scratchy materials.
108 N. Robertson Blvd. West Hollywood. (310) 285-1880. 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Saturday. 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.
-- Max Padilla
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