Target is aiming the spotlight on Auden, its own intimates and sleepwear brand, with the goal of it becoming a billion-dollar brand.
“After speaking with thousands of women, we saw an opportunity to provide a wider range of quality, on-trend intimates and sleepwear products at affordable price points for life’s many moments,” said Jill Sando, Target’s executive vice president and chief merchandising officer of apparel and accessories, home and hardlines. “With the new Auden, we’re delivering just that with more than 600 items all under $40 in one cohesive brand — making it even easier for consumers to shop.”
First launched in 2019, the newly refreshed Auden will be available at all 1,956 Target stores and target.com on July 7.
The Product Range
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The collection includes more than 100 new sleepwear items and brand staples like bras and bralettes, underwear and bodysuits, along with new items such as socks and sleepwear. The retailer is also introducing Auden Luxury Collection, an expanded line of elevated intimates, including shapewear and loungewear, made with innovative fabrics such as “Luxe Stretch,” for smooth and soft everyday wear.
In addition, Auden products are Oeko-Tex certified, which means they are independently tested and certified against more than 350 harmful chemicals.
In an exclusive interview via Zoom from Minneapolis headquarters, Sando explained the importance of Auden to Target’s own brand portfolio, which consists of 45 brands across all the major merchandise categories and accounts for $30 billion in revenues. She said the “Only at Target” brands are “so critical in delivering that ‘Tar-jay’ feeling, that magic, that joy, and that’s what we’re really leaning into.”
Some of Target’s own apparel brands include Cat & Jack, All in Motion and Wild Fable.
Though the Auden brand was performing well, through their extensive consumer research, they saw an opportunity for it to be “even more relevant and to be an even better brand with their consumers,” Sando said.
“At Target, we’re not just launching brands, but we are growing brands. We have positioned Auden as our next billion-dollar brand,” said Sando.
Auden’s Mix-and-match Philosophy
The collection is designed to be easy for consumers to mix and match. On the selling floor, they will anchor styles by fabric stories, and offerings will be merchandised adjacent to each other so people can see how things go together. For example, she pointed to a mannequin wearing the sleep pant, the bralette and the robe that will be used to show guests how to mix and match.
She said they are committed to style and value. “This is not just about looking good, it’s about feeling good and that’s what this brand delivers,” she said.
Further, she stressed the importance of affordability. “And affordability that doesn’t come with compromise and that is what we are so committed to and that is what I think sets Target apart is the style and the quality,” said Sando. When they hear a customer say, ‘I got it at Target,’ it’s not just a statement of fact, it’s a statement of pride,” she said.
In addition, Sando said their customers are looking for an easy shopping experience, and the Auden collection is anchored in fabric stories and in a coordinated, cohensive color palette “that makes it really easy to pull things together for different occasions and different uses.”
The Addition of Sleepwear
Sando is particularly excited about the sleepwear offering that includes sleep pants, nightgowns and pajamas. “It’s interesting in our research, the consumers described sleepwear as self care,” she said. She said when the consumers see this in the store and feel the fabric “there’s something so nurturing about it.” A quarter of the Auden collection will be sleepwear.
In describing the Luxury Collection, which is a new line of elevated intimates, she pulled an item to show. “This is a four-way stretch, and it’s like a second skin on your body. And so we have multiple silhouettes that we are launching in this fabrication,” said Sando.
Overall, she said the line starts at $3, and everything is under $40. Intimates are all under $30 and the loungewear goes up to $40.
While Sando said the new line isn’t significantly larger than its previous incarnation, there’s more versatility within the assortment. Target is getting out of Stars Above, its existing sleepwear line, to make Auden the master brand for sleepwear, loungewear and intimate apparel.
The Size Range
The collection is designed for a broad range of body types. Bra sizes range from 32A to 40 Triple D. Underwear, sleepwear and loungewear go from XS to 4X. The collections will be merchandised within a shop in the intimates department organized by fabrication and will represent the anchor brand of the department. The offerings change seasonally. “Across our businesses, we continue to see really strong guest response to newness,” said Sando.
In intimate apparel, Target carries such national brands as Hanes, Maidenform and Jockey, and direct-to-consumer brands such as Parade, Kindred by Kindred Bravely and All.You.Lively.
Asked if Auden will ever be wholesaled to other retailers, Sando explained that Target started wholesaling with the Cat & Jack kids’ line “and we are very early in that journey, and we’re still learning and deciding the right path forward there.”
As reported in May, Target brought 1,400 Cat & Jack kids apparel items to Hudson’s Bay stores and thebay.com in March, and is looking to wholesale more of its owned brands to other retailers.
“That wholesale strategy is a great reinforcement of the love of Target brands, and the capabilities that we’ve built over the years in creating brands that consumers recognize and appreciate the style, and value and durability. Our investment over the past several years in creating these own brand capabilities really positions us to create brands that stand on their own,” she said.
Sando declined to discuss when Auden will reach its $1 billion goal. She also declined to reveal how big the business is currently. “This positions us for growth which is our objective. We have evolved. We have launched a lot of brands. We are seeing incredible consumer response to it. We are not in the business of just launching brands, we are in the business of growing brands. Building billion-dollar brands and growing those billion-dollar brands into $2 billion brands and growing those $2 billion brands into $3 billion brands,” she said.
Target Aims to Regain Traction in Apparel
As reported in March, Target plans to add $50 billion in sales and 300 new stores over the next decade. But while Target’s much bigger competitor Walmart Inc. has used its massive grocery business to drive shoppers toward its other products, Target is working with a smaller base and is trying to regain its traction in apparel.
Target’s comparable sales in apparel were down in the first quarter, but saw some significant improvement from the fourth quarter with a strong collaboration with Diane von Furstenberg and momentum in its All in Motion and Wild Fable private brands.
