The Paperless Post has partnered with Oscar de la Renta to release a collection of digital and paper stationery, the second in a series of collaborations with fashion houses including Kate Spade.
Paperless Post's in-house designers took inspiration from the runway, using fabric samples, embroideries and lace appliqués to inform the design of card stock, note paper and envelopes. A watercolor-like red and green print is drawn from a pre-fall look; a vine motif, from a columnar sheath dress shown in ODLR's last resort collection. One design reproduces the lace pattern used in the wedding gown of de la Renta's daughter, Eliza Bolen.
The collaboration launches with 50 wedding invitation designs, with plans to expand into personal stationery as well as general entertaining and children's invitations later this year. Invitations can be filled out on paperlesspost.com, and either be delivered electronically, or printed on card stock or cotton paper. Oscar de la Renta will receive a share of sales generated through the collaboration, a spokesperson for Paperless Post said.
I asked James Hirschfeld, founder and CEO of Paperless Post, why the startup has gone after fashion brands for partnerships. "Our #1 criterion for the brands we work with is that they have a unique, identifiable aesthetic that translates well as stationery," Hirschfeld wrote in an e-mail. "When we partner with any brand it's because they are best-in-class and represent a perspective and lifestyle that resonates with our user base. Oscar de la Renta's instantly recognizable style is a combination of elegance and fun that comes through in his use of color and pattern."
Electronic cards cost $0.25 apiece. Flat-printed cards start at $1 and fine-crafted cards start at $1.58, a spokesperson for Paperless Post said.