Pinterest favorites create party lines for Target

Target has tapped three of the most popular pinners on Pinterest, the photo-sharing social media site, to create partyware collections this year that will feature products for garden parties, glamping and craft beer tastings.

According to Pinterest, more than 700,000 party planning-related items are pinned onto the site each day.

Target has a long history of working with outside designers and brands to create chic, affordable merchandise, the first collaboration a groundbreaking collection of teakettles and toasters with architect Michael Graves in 1999. Other designers have included Nate Berkus, Jason Wu, Phillip Lim and Missoni. But by rounding up high-profile bloggers Joy Cho of Oh Joy!, Jan Halvarson of Poppytalk and Kate Arends of Wit &Delight, the retailer is moving past the pool of traditional designers to a trendier group of tastemakers.

“This is the first time we’ve partnered with social media influencers,” says Angie Thompson, a Target spokeswoman. “We see this as a great place to find talented up-and-comers, and today’s top pinners are expert curators of style and design.”

The three collections, for both indoor and outdoor entertaining, is being launched throughout 2014. The first group, by Cho, debuted March 16 in Target stores and online and will feature 40 serving pieces, decorating items, sparkly party hats, wall decals and paper plates, cups and napkins. The limited-edition collection will sell for $3 to $25.

The Los Angeles blogger, who has 13.6 million followers on Pinterest, is known for her bold colors and patterns.

“The idea of the collection came from thinking about how I could put together a party instantly without having to craft everything from scratch, and save the time for making food and entertaining guests,” Cho says.

One of her favorite items is the silicone ice cube layer tray ($12), which was inspired by a project Cho wrote about in her blog. She created layered ice cubes using smoothies and juices in striped patterns.

“That image got repinned 1.5 million times in several days,” Cho says. “From this idea, we created an ice cube tray with scalloped edges for the collection.”