nal videos and plaques detailing the retailer’s commitment to product quality and longevity, and invites customers to become ‘Target testers’ and join an online community where they can share how Target products hold up to everyday life. The retailer will incorporate this feedback into its design process.  Alongside the pop-up, the retailer has announced a new partnership with textile recycler Upparel to help keep unwanted clothing, linen, shoes and other textiles out of landfill. Through the Hand Me Rounds program, Target customers can have their pre-loved items collected by Upparel, which will either distribute them to charities or break them down for reuse. The move shows Target Australia is “saying a proud ‘yes’ to conscious clothing and homewares, with pieces our kids will outgrow, before they outwear,” the retailer said in a statement. “Products that we’re proud to hand down and around and will stand the test of time.” Fashion forward The pop-up comes nearly one year after a major restructure, which saw Target Australia either close or convert about half of its stores into K Hubs.  Since then, Target Australia has reinvested in its brand, debuting a new slogan – ‘that’s Target’ – releasing its first brand campaign in seven years and cementing a major charity partnership with the Australian Childhood Foundation.  The pop-up is both a celebration of the progress the retailer has made and an indication of its future direction.  “The main objective was to give the general public a chance to feel the quality and think about Target in a different way,” Jamima White, Target Australia’s general manager of marketing, told Inside Retail at a launch event for the pop-up on Wednesday evening.  “Affordable quality that is accessible to all Australian families is really important to us, but we wanted to show people that we’ve put a lot of hard work into fantastic product ranges. We’ve got ethical source materials, and we really wanted to bring it to life.” White said the location of the pop-up was deliberately chosen to attract customers who might not see Target Australia as a fashion destination.  “Chadstone being the fashion capital, it was really important to show that we’ve got those credentials,” she said. “Our product has come so far in the last year, in particular for our womenswear range.” Consistent brand handwriting Target Australia’s head of design Bec Biggins described the retailer’s new design ethos as “simple, clean, modern, inspired by overseas trends and very closely linked to our Australian culture and the way we live our lives.” “We really had to think about what we wanted that reset to look like in terms of brand handwriting and aesthetic. We wanted to ensure that it was overarchingly consistent across the whole brand, across different departments,” she said at the launch event on Wednesday. “From a quality point of view, it was a lot more focussed on what quality aspects were important to our customers across different product types, and making sure we prioritised those and got those right.”  Biggins added that sustainability has become a top priority. “It’s an exciting chapter to be a part of because we are building something so important, a sustainable business that looks after people and the planet,” she said. Target Australia now uses 100 per cent sustainably sourced cotton for all Target brand clothing, bedding and towels, and is working towards using 100 per cent responsibly sourced wool in Target brand clothing and bedding by July 2023. It’s also using recycled polyester and nylon in a growing range of products, such as activewear.