J.Crew's Jenna Lyons Dishes On Collaborations {shoe it up!}

A big "thanks!" to Matt, who shared the following article from Fashionista (click here):

One More Reason to Love Jenna Lyons, Christian Louboutin For J.Crew Is Not Impossible
By Fashionista
March 22, 2010

We forgot about Aspen Fashion Week, but Jenna Lyons was there, checking out both J.Crew’s boutique and other wintry brands, and while Garance caught her on camera, Style.com’s Darrel Hartman asked some important questions. Like what’s next?

The company’s been on a roll this year, and had record profits in 2009, but it sounds like Jenna’s just getting started.

“What we’d really like to do, especially for women’s, is a shoe collaboration where we maybe go to someone like Manolo Blahnik or Christian Louboutin. Gap did a great job doing that with Pierre Hardy, I thought. Women’s is just harder. Would I love to sell Chanel bags? Sure. Would they let us? No,” she says.

We might actually wait in line for a Christian Louboutin for J.Crew shoe. And she goes on to address why they’re so into collaborations with well established, beloved brands — mostly because they realize there are some things that other designers already do perfectly, like Red Wing boots, and Chanel.

I have to say that J.Crew is doing (so far) a great job of finding the right companies to partner with (like Timex, Sperry, Essie, & Selima to name a few). I am also totally on-board about seeing some shoe collaborations with high end designers! However, J.Crew should be a bit careful as I wouldn't want to see J.Crew end up looking like a department store with sections devoted to their partners.

What are your thoughts on the article? Any points you found particularly interesting? What collaborations would you like to see J.Crew partner with for the Women's line? :)