Cashing in on the 'Summer of Love'

Hope and change may be the words on the lips of young people today, but in 1969 it was all about peace and love. That summer, anything seemed possible as movements for social change gathered steam nationwide, the men of Apollo 11 took their first steps on the moon and 400,000 people turned a dairy farm in Bethel, N.Y., into a happening for the ages.

Oh, yeah: We're talkin' Woodstock, man.

Retailers have been celebrating the 40th anniversary of those three days of peace and music and the trends it launched. Macy's and Target both offered "Summer of Love" promotions honoring the anniversary this summer and hints of hippie fashion are sneaking into products and clothes for all ages.

To be completely accurate, of course, it should be noted that the term "summer of love" does not actually refer to Woodstock or 1969. It really describes the long, hot summer of 1967 when hippies roamed the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco with, as Scott McKenzie so memorably sang, flowers in their hair.

Stores such as Forever 21 have been offering peasant tops, flowing dresses and, yes, tie-dye everything. Displays at Macy's stores around the Twin Cities featured long and lean mannequins sporting the bright colors, leather fringe and metallic details of the late '60s and early '70s, and bubble-lettered signs in store displays prominently advertised their "Summer of Love" fashions.

Hayley Bush, the owner of the Minneapolis vintage shop Lula, has noticed some aspects of the Woodstock revival.

"People are asking for paisley," she said, somewhat amused. "People haven't asked for paisley in years."

Andrea Schwartz, a spokeswoman for Macy's, said that the Macy's wardrobe is supposed to show a "free-spirited" attitude. A company description of the trend says the collection is supposed to be "romantic at heart, but reinvents a contemporary world with magic and a hint of rock and roll."

Elements of that trend, such as paisley prints and rich reds and blues will continue into the Macy's fall collection.

At Target, the company launched a more official Woodstock campaign. Target worked with a team from the event coordination group Live Nation and original Woodstock organizer Michael Lang. Target spokeswoman Delia McLinden said Live Nation approached Target more than a year ago to work on a promotional campaign highlighting the 40th anniversary of Woodstock.

As a result, Target has had exclusive Woodstock-branded items such as party goods, housewares, apparel, posters and previously unseen footage of the festival. The products also sport the signature fluorescent pink, orange and aqua color palette and graphic prints of the Woodstock era. McLinden said that "the majority of the products in the Summer of Love collection are available for $10 or less."

Elsewhere in the store, colorful dresses are displayed under "Summer of Love" signs ("Peace, Love, Savings"); nearby are piles of vivid "hippie print" T-shirts.

While other stores haven't launched lines specifically honoring Woodstock's big anniversary, prairie skirts and tops, acid-colored paisley, and new takes on the mod dress are cropping up in store windows at area malls. Retailers such as Forever 21 and even designer Vera Wang have revived or revamped '60s-era styles in their spring and summer collections.

Headbands and scarves, also trumpeted as a cool summer fashion this year, are showing up Hendrix-style on the foreheads of teenagers. At American Apparel's website, they even sell tie-dye for those longing to express their own psychedelic style.

In short, the fashions of the '60s are cute, newly chic and, yes, totally groovy.

Hayley Tsukayama • 612-673-7415