Dive Brief:

• Dressbarn, the women’s clothing retailer known best for its inexpensive, unassuming workday wear, Wednesday launched an uncharacteristically fashion-forward set of collaborations known as Dressbar. The Dressbar lines include dresses by designers Carmen Marc Valvo, Heidi Weisel, and Michael Smaldone. 

• The Dressbar campaign is also an omnichannel effort, with a physical pop-up in New York City, and a digital “experience” that includes interactive search features with advice, editorial content, and social media engagement.

• The retailer’s stores have also seen shop-in-stores revamped by Kramer Design Group. The retailer is a division of Ascena Retail Group with 830 stores, many in mini-malls.

Dive Insight:

With this new campaign, Dressbarn is certainly busting through its reputation for “sense” and going for a bit more of a fun and high-fashion “sensibility.”

Design collaborations have become a mainstay for lower-priced apparel retailers, a practice developed years ago at Target and taken up by the likes of H&M. And Dressbarn could easily pick up new fans with this departure.

"We are taking this opportunity and capitalizing on the greatest market share of our business, the dress. There are very few retailers if any, offering this level of design and quality in the value sector," said Dressbarn president Jeff Gerstel.