Wow, you Aussie women are one wild bunch!
Australians stampede to grab new Stella McCartney lineMon Mar 12, 12:57 AM ET
Hundreds of women overran an Australian department store Monday to snatch up Stella McCartney's new collection, tearing clothes off mannequins and each other in a chaotic stampede for style.
Around 300 fashion-hungry customers, some of whom queued for more than two and a half hours before the doors opened, rushed a Target department store in Sydney where McCartney's limited edition special collection went on sale.
"They were taking clothes off mannequins, they were just tearing clothes off other people -- it was just absurd," said one bemused customer after the frenzy left shelves bare of the British designer's fashion fare.
Long queues also built up outside other selected Target stores in Australia that are carrying the collection, with shoppers stripping racks bare of McCartney items within 10 minutes of opening time.
"Someone just ripped a jacket out of my hands," shopper Lori Herbert told the Daily Telegraph, which quoted another woman as saying she feared for her safety during the rush as a clothes rack was rammed into her side.
The first retail treasures to be snatched up included silk dresses worth 180 dollars (141 US), but items started at 30 dollars, witnesses said.
The 42-item special line by McCartney, daughter of former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney, includes versions of key looks from recent collections for her own brand, redone for Target at greatly reduced prices.
"I wanted the collection for Target to reinterpret all the 'best ofs' and 'must-haves' of Stella McCartney for winter and make my designs more accessible to a wider audience in Australia," she said earlier.
