• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, March 12, 2013

Target -- long a master at using limited-run partnerships with designers to boost its fashion cred -- says it is pairing up with FEED Projects, and hopes that by doing so it will generate as many as 10 million meals for the hungry.

The Minneapolis-based retailer says the new line, due in stores in late June, will get the support of a full marketing campaign including TV, online and print. 

While FEED, founded by fashion model Lauren Bush Lauren, may be best known for getting its $100 handbags photographed on the arms of celebrities, the Target collection will include 50 items priced from $3 to $400. Scheduled to be available on June 30, each product will display the number of meals it will generate. And while FEED is best known for its connection to global initiatives, proceeds from the Target line will go to Feeding America, the country’s largest food relief organization. If 10 million meals are achieved, it would be the largest goal achieved yet by FEED -- which was launched by Lauren, niece of former president George W. Bush, back in 2006.

“This partnership is the perfect marriage of two of Target’s core values: great design and giving back,” 

Michelle Mesenburg, Target’s VP of style marketing, tells Marketing Daily in an email. “We are offering our guests a stylish new collection, and making it easy for them to make a positive impact on hunger. Hunger in America is a critical issue. The collaboration seemed like a natural fit.”

In addition to the ad campaign, which shows “how the collection makes it easy for our guests to make a positive impact,” she says there will be signage through stores, directing shoppers to FEED items in home, men’s and women’s departments. The chain will also use Facebook, Twitter and its own blog to promote the new line.