Missoni at Target: Sets off Worldwide Melee

When I told my brother and husband to buy that Whole Foods coupon that LivingSocial was offering on Tuesday, I knew I was on to something hot. Woo hoo! I spent $10 for $20 worth of groceries at my neighborhood's most overpriced grocery store. Then my husband burst my bubble by explaining that I'll likely spend more than $20 at Whole Foods thereby reducing my percentage saved, and they'll have me over a barrel. This is true of course, due in part to my Mexican Standoff with rival grocery store Safeway, who I have boycotted over the outrageous communist pricing of their milk. For a few fleeting seconds though, that coupon felt like a coup.

We all love a bargain, don't we?

The Whole Foods coupon sellout wasn't a surprise. But yesterday's run-on-Target news shocked me. I cannot wrap my mind around how the unveiling of the Missoni line at Target was worth people lining up for miles, playing punch and grab and then reselling it all online for higher prices. These people do know the store of origin is Target, right? Not Bergdorf, not Barneys, but Target -- the place where I buy my tampons and dog treats.

I'm not sure what is going on in the world but I'm feeling very conflicted. By the time Halston sold out to JC Penney, no one wanted to even snort a line with him, much less wait in one to buy his clothes. To me, a real score is getting a Diane Von Furstenberg online for half price. I don't have to wait in lines, it gets shipped to my house where I can try it on without judgment and it's the real thing. DVF on sale. Not DVF of a lesser quality for Target. And if DVF did end up in Target and I bought some of her stuff? I would never resell it online. I would go home, sit on my bed with the fruits of my labor around me and do like my 5-year-old niece does and scream, "MINE MINE MINE!"

Is there a new trend brewing in disposable clothing with a big name on it? Plenty of designers have had lines at Target. I received a Kohl's catalog yesterday in my mailbox and Jennifer Lopez was on the cover hawking her new fashion line. (Guess she's not using real fur anymore, huh? Slumming it with the little people really changes your business plan doesn't it, J. Lo?) (She was making out with Mark Anthony inside the front cover. I think someone dropped their editing wand too soon.) (Also, I don't know either why I'm getting a Kohl's catalog. I'd been throwing them away until I realized my husband's name was on them. Oops. But it doesn't belong in the mailbox touching my Harper's Bazaar!)

Then my poor eyes were assaulted with some advertisement for Sears. Guess who has a new line there? The most confounding celebrities of the century -- my all time favorite bubbleheads -- the Kardashians -- who, by the way, were made supreme fun of the other day:

Sigh. So it's not just me who sees it then?

I guess what I'm saying is that the appeal of a luxury brand loses its, well, appeal, once it's available to the mass market. Does this make me a snob? Maybe a little. I would not line up to buy a cheap version of a brand if I wasn't willing to buy it through their regular collection. I also hate mass market shopping for the same reason I don't wear khakis: I don't want to wear what everyone else is wearing.

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Melissa blogs at Velvet in Dupont and can be found on Facebook.

 

Comments

[Dawn Maria]

05:25 PM on 09/19/2011

Look, Target isn't my first stop when buying new clothes, but I was thrilled to snag a couple of Missoni items from them. I spent last summer drooling inside the Missoni store in Rome and could not wait for this line to launch. I only wish I'd been smart enough to get to the store earlier in the day than I did.

That said, I'll save my pennies for my next trip to Europe before I'd pay double or triple the price in eBay for one of these garments. I'm not crazy.

[Melissa Terzis]

11:42 PM on 09/20/2011

See now, that's exactly how I feel! My point in saying "It's still clothes from Target" was a slam as much as it was pointing out that it wasn't worth three times the price. But score a $1000 sweater online for $400, and resell on ebay for $800? Now THAT I get.

[surfandshop]

05:16 PM on 09/19/2011

I , too, was called by my shopping vice to try to buy Missoni at Target. Was not able to buy a thing online. I feel like such a loser, " I CAN'T EVEN BUY STUFF AT TARGET."

[Piaget2011]

01:32 AM on 09/18/2011

I had no desire to stand in line to purchase anything from the Missoni for Target line simply because I don't like Missoni - not a big pattern/color gal. But I saw some of the remnants yesterday and the quality actually wasn't bad - certainly not the quality you would get if you bought a 'real' Missoni but equali to or better than you find at H and M or the Gap. That being said, I have purchased some clothing from their other designer partnerships and still wear them...yes, there is some clothing that is more disposable in nature and as I grow older I tend to shop for quality over cost, but more than that I just buy what I like.

[Beckola44]

07:15 PM on 09/16/2011

Target clothes don't fall apart. I have more trouble with my Armani than I do from the clothes I've bought at Target. However, it is Target. Which means it's not going to be 100% Italian wool, silk or Cashmere. And since it's produced for the masses, it probably won't have a good fit. (At least that's my experience with Target clothes).

However, that's not what this purchase is all about. This purchase is about the Missoni line at Target being cool. They mainly used their trademark zigzag and that's unique and desired. It's different than the drab you see day in and day out. And now for $40, she can have the same 'looking' cardigan she sees in magazines for $1,295. To that point, I looked on-line when the web-site when back up and there were plenty of items left(clothes and housewares), but almost none that bore the zigzag pattern.

What I don't understand is the belief that this stuff will be hot in the resale market. The lure is the price. I would have loved to have a 'Target' Missoni throw blanket for $50 or whatever it was. But I have no desire to have it for more than that. I'll be curious to see how the resale goes on ebay. I'm expecting that the people who thought they'd make a killing will be disappointed.

[Jill1975]

07:34 PM on 09/17/2011

.
I got to Target too late to find any Missoni in my size but the few pieces I saw did not look anywhere near as nice as Missoni from dept stores , although it looked better than the rest of Target's clothes.

[Melissa Terzis]

11:19 PM on 09/18/2011

That's what I don't get either...I've purchased some mid-line kind of stuff, dresses that normally sell for $400 and got them for under $200, and after a few weeks decided I just didn't want/like it. If it was beyond the return time, I'd sell it on ebay, and in most cases, broke even or made a few bucks. But this was the real-deal $400 dress (whoever it might have been made by) and not the $50 version at Target. So this is where I remain utterly confused - why would buy Target clothes for a premium? I guess we will see.

[Carrie82]

06:36 PM on 09/15/2011

What a snotty piece. What's so hard to understand about women seeing a cute sweater or scarf in an ad and wanting to buy it? And @Kelley is right on--Missoni has been huge for 50 years for a reason. Comparing Missoni to the Kardashians or JLo does not add up.

[Kelley Lipton]

10:06 AM on 09/16/2011

Exactly! Missoni has a very distinct reputation for bright colors and bold patterned knits. You can't even compare it to any of the designer collaborations Target has had in the past. Kardashians, and JLo are not fashion designers, and are not even relevant in the true fashion world. Their efforts cheapen their line before it even has a following. They are simply striking while the iron is hot, and do not care about the quality of design they simply go to the highest bidder.

[offred]

04:03 PM on 09/15/2011

I patronize Target only as a last resort. As a Minnesotan, I always took pride in our large companies that used to be such good corporate citizens, contributing funds to schools, diversity projects, etc. In the last couple years. So many of our large corporations have become part of global conglomerates that Minnesota's only benefits have been minimum-wage jobs, jobs outsourced, and corporate tax subsidies.

Target in particular has taken some stands that offend me:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/27/target-homophobia-ceo-gre_n_660990.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/29/target-anti-union-video-r_n_405968.html

Signed,

Disappointed Minnesota Girl

[offred]

03:48 PM on 09/15/2011

Folks, remember that Target is anti-union and contributed to the campaign of an anti-gay candidate in Minnesota last election.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/27/target-homophobia-ceo-gre_n_660990.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/29/target-anti-union-video-r_n_405968.html

[pdwolfe]

02:27 PM on 09/15/2011

I'm looking at your photo and you actually ARE wearing what everyone else is wearing... you look very nice, but certainly your point is not valid. You should take another look at Target for things other than dog treats and tampons -- especially their kids' clothes and their sheets and towels, which are great and inexpensive. I could not have raised eight children without Target!

[Kelley Lipton]

09:56 AM on 09/16/2011

Amen to that lol! Target rocks and their prices are not necessarily rock bottom. The quality of the home products are outstanding and the store represents all incomes for the most part. I'm not bashing but the blogger has two dogs and a husband. Throw in a couple of kids, husband and two dogs and I'm sure at one point in your life you will find yourself at Target possibly a couple of times per week.

[Melissa Terzis]

11:27 AM on 09/16/2011

I do shop at Target - except I don't and wouldn't buy clothes there. I prefer for my clothes to last instead of falling apart at the seams. And if someone chooses to buy Missoni clothes there, fine, but then why are people selling it for 4 times the price? It's clothing from Target - it's not a major score. Mass market clothing is not exclusive. So the fact that people lined up so they could resell it is idiotic to me, and that other people may or may not be paying more than the price it sold for at Target is just even more ridiculous.

And I think it's funny that by a photo you could say I am wearing what everyone else is - how can you tell? That dress is off the shoulder and you can't see it in the picture. I didn't realize you had x-ray vision. What an amazing quality, you should be famous!

[Kelley Lipton]

11:25 AM on 09/15/2011

Unfortunately yes it does make you a snob. If the quality of the clothing is severely compromised I am in agreement but that is not the case with this line. I would have never imagined a fashion powerhouse such as Missoni doing a line with Target. Wait on line, certainly not but was it worth setting my alarm for 4am, then 5am then successful at 6am...... absolutely yes! In addition I went to my local store to inspect the quality of my upcoming order and still bought a few more pieces. The coveted dress, and cardigan aside from it not being wool which absolutely no one expected it to be the pieces are of Gap quality which is decent considering. I was among shoppers going completely overboard that I fear have no idea how to pair pieces in a way that would make Margherita proud lol but then I guess that would make me a snob to a degree as well. Basically Missoni for Target was HUGE and as I stated before could not believe the collaboration which is why people went insane for it, they probably figured it was a quality line and worth the headache. What's next YSL for Target?