Get Inspired with Target's Trend-Setting Gigi Guerra

May 29, 2015 - Article reads in

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Ever wonder who helps curate some of Target’s most popular designer collaborations? Meet Gigi Guerra, member of the Target Design Partnerships team! To keep herself right at the center of the style scene, Gigi works out of Target’s New York office in Chelsea (which you may remember hearing about when Target debuted Target Too in the office’s gallery space).

In addition to her swoon-worthy wardrobe, which includes a mix of her favorite designers, brands and impressive vintage finds, she is a fashion industry guru with a resume to be envious of. Not only is she a mom to two cute twin boys, she is also part of the incredible team that has brought to life Target’s collaborations with Peter Pilotto, Altuzarra, Lilly Pulitzer and many more. Prior to joining team Bullseye in 2013, Gigi worked with Rachel Zoe back in her editorial days at ym magazine and Gigi has written for major fashion publications such as Lucky magazine.

Below, we kick off a series with Gigi where she gives us an inside look into her hunt for inspiration, tips for entertaining, trend advice and much more!

Describe your job at Target in three words.
Fun. Every. Day.

What’s your favorite aisle to shop at Target?
Such a hard question! Really hard to choose just one, but if pressed I’d pick the party aisle. There’s always something fun and surprising. And I have a bit of a hoarding problem. You never know when you’ll need fun tools to throw a spontaneous fiesta.

If you were stranded on a desert island and could only have three things with you, what would they be?
Aside from my family and our 14-year-old dachshund, the necessities would be a Lilly Pulitzer for Target hammock, sandcastle-building tools, and a limitless supply of Market Pantry peanut-butter-filled pretzels.

What’s your favorite part of the job?
Meeting creative people doing inspiring things on a daily basis.

What did you have for breakfast?
Pancakes, ordered to the office through Seamless. It’s sort of a running joke how much I love them. Preferably with butter and natural maple syrup.

What was the last great art exhibit you saw?
The Yayoi Kusama “Give Me Love” exhibition at David Zwirner gallery here in NYC. The exhibition is basically an all-white room with matching white furniture, and visitors are given colorful stickers when they enter the gallery to stick on anything in the room. The exhibition will basically become this awesome, crazy, collaborative, sticker-covered room.

Movie?
The Iris Apfel documentary, simply titled “Iris”, was pure fashion fun. Even more poignant was that it was the legendary documentarian Albert Maysles’s final film before he passed away (Maysles directed such cult hits as “Gray Gardens” and “Gimme Shelter”). And for those not familiar with Iris, she’s a witty 94-year-old style icon, known for her wacky outfits and over-the-top accessorization skills. She was even the subject of at Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition in 2005. What I love most about her, aside from her fearless approach to dressing, is that she isn’t necessarily a big designer shopper — she’s a flea-market fiend like myself and lives to root around for a good deal.

Play?
The stage adaptation of the bestselling novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. I’m not a big Broadway person but this play bowled me over with its incredible…well, everything! The sets were clever, the storyline superb, the soundtrack captivating — it was all simply mesmerizing. I would happily see it again — and possibly a third time too.

What's your favorite thing about NYC?
The people watching. One moment you will see a guy riding a crazy tricked-out bicycle down the street, and the next you’ll see a couple dressed alike, and then you’ll think you’ve see it all and someone in a wild outfit strolls by. Living in New York is to live in a constant state of stimulation, and to constantly be surprised.

Minneapolis?
The ability to be outside in nature. And the sense of freedom and discovery I have when I visit. There is always something fun to check out. One of my recent forays there was to the Hmong market in St. Paul, where I bought a beautiful, intricately appliqued baby carrier. And next on my list: Seeing the ostrich races that happen each July at the local horse-racing track, visiting the legendary Minnesota State Fair (and seeing the booth where animals are live-birthed!), and going ice-fishing in winter. So cool — I could never do that in New York.

Who is your favorite designer?
Stephen Sprouse. I loved his bright palette, bold prints and artistic take on fashion. When he did a partnership with Target back in the day [2002], I was traveling, and found the nearest Target on the road and bought whatever I could find. I still wear it all.

How does it feel to be a mom to two adorable twin boys?
Amazing! Every day is a new adventure. Doing everything in twos keeps me on my toes. And they melt my heart on a daily basis. The boys are actually fraternal twins, so they don’t look or act alike – in fact, they’re quite opposite.

What's the hardest thing about motherhood?
Figuring out how to manage my time and balance it all. Which had made me discover that there really is no balance — you just do what you can and have to make your peace with that. Also, trying to keep any semblance of order in our apartment. I posted a photo on Instagram recently of our messy living room with the caption “typical Saturday apartment devastation” and my friends with kids really responded positively to it, basically saying thank you.

What's the most exciting thing about the next designer collaboration with Eddie Borgo?
The product is just beyond. And you can customize it, which is the first time we’ve done something like this in the partnership space. Not only can you create your own charms, but also you can then customize all the accessories in the line with your charms.

We know you're the queen of DIY outfits. What's the craziest one you can remember?
Well, the one that’s the most infamous is my “toast dress” – basically, a giant dress with a hoopskirt that I covered with nine loaves of toasted Wonder bread. And I even made a crown for my head out of toast. And put little fake yellow foam butter pats on some of the toast slices.

Where do you find inspiration?
In all the small, random details I encounter each day. I might see a person on the street wearing intentionally mismatched shoes, or crazy graffiti on a building, or a fascinating construction site. My mind is always in hyper-observation mode, which is both a blessing and a curse. I’m constantly snapping pics on my phone of the things around me — I’m that person who always lags behind to take a photo.

What's your favorite thing to buy at Target?
It changes every trip! It’s whatever essential-at-that-moment discovery I’ve come across that I can’t live without. One recent purchase was this Spritz rainbow punk wig — and it was only $5. I’m trying to teach my boys colors so I thought it would be a fun educational tool — and thought I’d entertain myself in the process too.
Stay tuned for the next in our series with Gigi!