Call it dotcom couture

Online auction site eBay is making their first foray into fashion by inking a partnership with top fashion designer Narciso Rodriguez to create its first clothing line. The collection, “Narciso Rodriguez for eBay,” will be sold exclusively on eBay starting Spring 2010.

Rodriguez, who designed the dress worn by Michelle Obama on election night, exploded on the fashion scene after designing the wedding gown of Carolyn Bessette Kennedy for her wedding to John F. Kennedy, Jr. in 1996. “I’ve never sold anything at these kinds of prices,” Rodriguez said noting that the eight pieces in the eBay collection will be offered from $75 to $350 each which is a huge drop in price from his signature collection where dresses typically carry a price tag of $1,500. “This gets my work to a wider audience.”

eBay spokesman Alan Marks portrayed the auction site as an emerging outlet for designers looking to increase their distribution and appeal on more favorable financial terms. Rodriguez said the small collection for eBay is a way of skirting the demands of creating a permanent, lower-priced line, which typically means “hundreds of pieces and deliveries every month.” Like other sellers, Rodriguez will pay 35 cents to list an item for 30 days under eBay’s “Buy it Now” option, and will pay another fee once the item is sold.

This isn’t the first foray into fashion for eBay, which has auctioned off a limited number of runway pieces straight from several designers, including Rodriguez and Proenza Schouler. Diane von Furstenberg has used eBay to sell vintage pieces, overstock and perfume.