• The Wall Street Journal (subscription required), Wednesday, February 7, 2007 12:15 PM

Design teams at Kohl's department store and the licensing unit of publisher Lagardère Active Media will jointly develop European-inspired fashions that will be stocked at 300 Kohl's stores this spring and will be sold chain-wide by 2008. The garb includes jeans, Capri pants, shorts, skirts, dresses, woven and knit tops, and jackets aimed at 25- to 35-year-olds.

The agreement follows exclusive deals that the retailer has signed with designer Vera Wang to produce mid-price clothing and Food Network to sell its branded kitchenware. Prices for the new Elle line will generally be in the middle range of what is found in a Kohl's department store, with dresses priced at $40 and coats at $30, for example.

Staff dedicated to new, exclusive lines at Kohl's--a group that has grown to 185 employees in the past 12 months--will work out of a new office slated to open in New York this spring.

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