Meaning in the Missoni

Your humble blogger found herself at Target this morning , not - it must be confessed - entirely by accident.   As you may or may not know, today is the launch of the much anticipated Missoni at Target co-branding extravaganza.


 However, apparently knowing about this event (having read about it in numerous fashion and shelter publications) and preparing for this event were two very different things.  By the time this modern mother arrived at her nearest Target at 8:43 a.m. the shelves were empty, the employees shell-shocked and women were wandering around desperately asking other women with two and even three carts full of merchandise if they were going to "keep all of it."  The store was relatively empty save for clusters of disappointed women standing around the empty Missoni displays talking in hushed voices.  "The Target website crashed this morning,"  "They aren't getting any more shipments,"  "Someone said they might bring out more housewares in a few minutes."  "I should have gotten here earlier."

When asked whether people had been lining up outside early that morning the woman at the check-out counter shook her head and reported "It was crazy.  It was like Black Friday.  All these women running through the store..."


Obviously the modern mother should be more organized.  She should have asked a friend to drop her children off at school.  She should  have had a strategy, sneakers and possibly an accomplice.  She should have perused the look book  to know what items she wanted.  One might have gone to women's clothes, one to housewares, then on to shoes and girls.  Better add walkie-talkies to the plan in case Verizon and at&t (like the Target site) went down due to this incredible once in a lifetime event. 

Of course, to be clear, we are talking about Italian knitwear in fuzzy zig-zag patterns: sweaters, skirts, scarves, socks.  Plus shoes, plates, bowels, vases.  But of course, it is luxury knitwear.  Traditionally found in the hallowed salons of Barneys and Bergdorfs and on the Rue de Faubourge at very un-Target prices.



So what gives?  How does this marriage of high and low work?  Obviously it draws people (many of whom were driving pretty posh SUVs this morning) into Target.  But is it good for the luxury brand? As of this writing 12:53 p.m. September 13, the Target site is still down and a quick search on eBay for Missoni Target has produced over  600 items that had to have been purchased in stores this morning.   Does this kind of secondary market add to the brand value?  Or is it the expanded reach and awareness they are looking for?  Does knowing about the brand mean that more people will scrimp and save for the real thing?  Or is it just a lot of fun in an otherwise dreary economic climate?   Who knows, maybe after today Chanel and Jimmy Choo will be lining up to partner up.

Anyone know anything about this month's jobless numbers and that Poverty Report coming out this afternoon?


Pictures from target.com and NYTimes.com

3 comments:

Lisa Rich said...

I find this craziness a bit sad. Some of my sadness is due to the fact that I now live in Canada and Target isn't making its debut here until 2013. But the other part is that it's just cheap versions of a designer's wares. It seems a bit crazy to go so....crazy.

Oh, and by the way? The poverty rate is 15.1% for 2010, a level not seen since 1993. The US definition of poverty is an annual income of $22,314 for a family of four, and $11,139 for a single person in 2010. And 46 million Americans are on food stamps.

Anonymous said...

Don't they say the difference between luxury and mass-market is just one floor in a factory in China?

Anonymous said...

Totally disgusting. I just checked the target website and its still down and ebay lists 11,000 items under "target missoni" What the h*** is wrong with people?

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