Coming soon to prime time: a Wal-Mart clothing line

Actress Dayanara Torres was one of the front-row girls at L.A. Fashion Week, watching the models strut by in cigarette pants and draped knits, skinny jeans and kimono tops. She seemed delighted by the clothes, all from a young line called Metro 7. And good thing, because she’ll be wearing them in the nightly prime-time soap opera “Watch Over Me.”

And in commercials during the show.

And in advertisements in Vogue and Lucky.

And on signs in 1,500 Wal-Mart stores.

The giant retailer’s desire to dominate cheap-chic clothing the way it does, say, DVDs -- selling more than any other entity on the planet -- has spawned a marketing campaign unlike any other in fashion: Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, is collaborating with MyNetworkTV, a start-up network, to sell trendy ribbed tanks for $8.94 and faux-leather purses for $18.75.

It’s an unusual hookup, and in some ways, so is the path Wal-Mart took to come up with Metro 7. Unlike many other mass retailers, it didn’t follow the Target model by hiring a big-name designer to produce an affordable line. Since Target signed on Mossimo Giannulli six years ago to design clothes for men, women and children, Kohl’s has partnered with Vera Wang, Brooks Brothers with Thom Browne, H&M; with Karl Lagerfeld, Stella McCartney and Viktor & Rolf -- not to mention Target’s more recent collections with Behnaz Sarafpour, Paul & Joe and Luella Bartley.

Wal-Mart produced Metro 7 by relying on senior executives in its buying department, its New York trend office, and a key sportswear supplier (which it won’t identify) to craft a fashion-forward line of inexpensive items. None costs more than $99 and most are less than $50. Wal-Mart figured it didn’t need a big name: With 176 million people shopping at its U.S. stores every week, the idea was that women who drop by for diapers or groceries would cruise past the Metro 7 department and decide to add to their wardrobes. Retailers call this “crossing the aisle.”

Is it working? So far, not as well as Wal-Mart would like.

After a year, the line still hasn’t gained traction. The chain’s same-store sales in September and October were disappointing, in part because of lackluster apparel sales. Chief Executive H. Lee Scott Jr. told Wall Street analysts last month that the chain had loaded its stores with too much trendy merchandise, including Metro 7. And Wal-Mart plans to cut the number of stores in which Metro 7 will be available, to between 800 and 900 rather than 1,200.

But demand for cheap and up-to-the-minute chic clothes for women and girls is booming. “They would be foolish not to go after that” part of the market, says Dina Relkin of the Tobe Report, a retail trend forecasting service.

And to do that, Wal-Mart is betting on Torres. A former Miss Universe perhaps best known as the ex-wife of singer Marc Anthony, Torres will sport Metro 7 clothes throughout the 13-week “Watch Over Me” season, which begins Dec. 7 on MyNetworkTV. Torres will also pop up during commercial breaks, wearing Metro 7 garb and urging viewers to head to their local Wal-Mart to buy their own. And Torres will continue to pose in print and store ads, as Wal-Mart’s main model for the brand.

Wal-Mart put on the show at Los Angeles Fashion Week with a front row that included Torres and other MyNetwork-TV stars, such as Morgan Fairchild, who plays Bo Derek’s nemesis on “Fashion House,” another prime-time soap opera. The clothes and accessories on the runway looked as with-it as anything else models wore during the week: short shorts, knit tops, bomber jackets, ankle boots. And dishy clips from MyNetworkTV were projected onto a back wall: Torres looking innocent, Casper Van Dien wrinkling his perfect lips into a frown, Fairchild and Derek slapping each other in a cat fight.

The clothes emerged without a scratch.

elizabeth.khuri@latimes.com