Fashionista

How to Make It in Fashion: June 21, Dream Hotel Downtown, New York

Tuesday June 12th, 2012

The Top 20 Designer Collaborations: A Timeline
Collaboration

The Top 20 Designer Collaborations: A Timeline

When H&M announced its latest designer collaboration with Maison Martin Margiela, we’ll admit we were a little surprised. Margiela is so avant-garde, so cult-y, and with little name recognition (OK, more than a little thanks to Kanye) we’d have figured them the last brand to do a collaboration with a mass retailer. But then again, H&M got Karl Lagerfeld to do a line for it in 2004, and then, somehow, the retailer convinced the most reclusive and enigmatic of designers, Rei Kawakubo, to do a Comme des Garcons collaboration in 2008. So maybe it’s not so surprising that Maison Martin Margiela is doing a mass collab–maybe it’s even obvious. It seems like every major designer has done a lower-priced collaboration with any number of mass retailers recently.

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Published at 7:32 PM

Thursday December 29th, 2011

You May Still Get That Canceled Missoni for Target Order After All
Shopping

You May Still Get That Canceled Missoni for Target Order After All

We thought that Missoni for Target was just another chapter of 2011 that was closed, but there appears to be a sequel. A tipster informed NY Mag that he had received his previously-canceled order for Missoni for Target…for free! After receiving one of those maddening $25 Target gift cards instead of his order months ago, he’s now the proud owner of a Missoni for Target espresso set. He got the following intriguing email:

Thank you for your patience and continued support with regard to your Missoni for Target order. Your Missoni item(s) have now shipped and we want to let you know that you will not be invoiced for the item(s) listed below.

If you do not wish to keep the below item(s) please donate them to a local charity or shelter of your choice rather than returning them to Target.

Before you start running to check your local Salvation Army for cast-offs, your order may be on its way, too.

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Published at 5:11 PM

Wednesday December 7th, 2011

20 Moments that Rocked the Fashion World in 2011
Fashion Is Fun

20 Moments that Rocked the Fashion World in 2011

We’ll cut right to the chase: A lot of crazy shit happened in the fashion world this year. While the industry that we call home can sometimes seem isolated and fantastical, many of its key players and events made headlines even in the mainstream media over the course of 2011.

In the last 365 days, we’ve seen our share of ups and downs: There have been exciting new beginnings and tragic falls from grace. A royal wedding and a Sarah Burton for McQueen dress captivated the world, while Galliano’s dress for Kate Moss made the fashion world swoon. We’ve celebrated the return of older models—like when 46-year-old Kristen McMenamy wore a bikini on the cover of Vogue Italia—and saw plenty of controversy surrounding very young ones. Just when we thought the boundaries of gender identity were breaking for good and that Lea T could kiss Kate Moss on the cover of LOVE, a men’s mag openly calls androgynous model Andrej Pejic a “thing.” We took it all in stride, and we’ve hopefully come out better on the other side.

Looking back at 2011, we’ve chosen twenty major moments that we believe defined the year in fashion. Which one made the biggest impact on you?

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Published at 2:29 PM

Monday November 21st, 2011

Versace for H&M Has Nothing on Missoni for Target When It Comes to eBay Appeal
Collaboration

Versace for H&M Has Nothing on Missoni for Target When It Comes to eBay Appeal

It’s become the inevitable next step following the launch of a hyped designer collaboration: eBay. The collections sell out, and immediately get posted on eBay at jacked up prices. “eBay has always been a destination for hot, hard to find products and even in the early days of the first designer collaborations we saw merchandise arise on eBay,” says Miriam Lahage, Global Head of Fashion Brand for eBay. “Even today there are still Luella Bartley for Target (one of the first designer collaborations) on eBay.”

In the case of Versace for H&M, the collection was up on eBay before the launch thanks to an editors-only pre-shop event following the runway show (we’re hoping these are clever interns and not top of the masthead folks looking to make a quick buck–even the gift bag items were up for sale). Since Versace for H&M launched at H&M stores nationwide on Saturday, there are 7,000 listings for the collection on eBay. According to eBay, the average selling price per garment is $191 (Lahage says that prices ‘normalize’ after the initial flurry of postings), the highest sold item was the leather gold studded trench for $899 (original retail price $399) and the most expensive item up for sale is the leather biker jacket with the studded lapels with an asking price of $1200 (originally priced at $299). “Versace for H&M” has been searched 40,000 times since Saturday.

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Published at 6:23 PM

Thursday November 17th, 2011

Versace for H&M Crashes Retailer’s E-commerce Site in the UK; US Site to Launch in Fall 2012

Versace for H&M Crashes Retailer’s E-commerce Site in the UK; US Site to Launch in Fall 2012

And the madness begins…

Versace for H&M hit stores today in London, Paris, Milan and Shanghai today, and, as we expected, shoppers came out in droves in person and online to shop the new collection. In Shanghai a fight even broke out when some of the professional queuers (yes, this is apparently a real thing) didn’t want to wait on line, WWD is reporting. On line (like the internet kind of line), there was a bit of Missoni for Target deja vu. H&M’s e-commerce site crashed only moments after the collaboration went up for sale, according to the Daily Mail.

We checked the retailer’s e-commerce site and while it appears they are still having technical difficulties (only some of us were able to get through), it doesn’t seem like the site is completely down anymore. H&M apologized over Twitter for the inconvenience to shoppers saying, “Followers, we’re sorry about the technical problems in our shop online markets – we’re working hard to solve them!”

Stateside, we have much more exciting news when it comes to H&M’s e-commerce:

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Published at 10:34 AM

Monday October 31st, 2011

Missoni Wants to Do Another Lower-Priced Line, Possibly With Macy’s
Shopping

Missoni Wants to Do Another Lower-Priced Line, Possibly With Macy’s

Are you one of the many who missed out Missoni for Target? If so, don’t fret: It probably won’t be long before you’ll have another chance to snag some affordable Missoni. In news that should surprise no one, the Missonis say they plan to follow the wildly successful Target collaboration with another lower-priced line. And they may go the route that many high-end designers have been going of late: Macy’s.

The Los Angeles Times‘s Booth Moore interviewed three generations of Missoni (Angela, Rosita and Margherita) to chat about the phenomenon that was their internet-crashing collaboration with Target as well as tentative plans to do another low-priced collaboration.

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Published at 11:00 AM

Friday October 28th, 2011

Missoni for Target Fallout Continues: Shoppers Receive $25 Gift Card to Target Instead of Order (and No Explanation)

Missoni for Target Fallout Continues: Shoppers Receive $25 Gift Card to Target Instead of Order (and No Explanation)

Woops. Looks like Missoni for Target has an even bigger customer service problem on their hands than we thought.

The Hairpin‘s Jean Marie posted this picture of a gift card she recently received in the mail saying, “Look at what came in the mail yesterday. This is the entirety of the note: ‘Regarding your Missoni for Target order.’ And then at the bottom it says the card is worth $25. That’s it! That is all the info. I might cry. Should I cry?”

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Published at 10:30 AM

Friday October 14th, 2011

Fashion News Roundup: Uniqlo’s World Domination, Karlie Kloss Mostly Naked at Anna Wintour’s House and the Rise of the Man Purse
Fashion News Roundup

Fashion News Roundup: Uniqlo’s World Domination, Karlie Kloss Mostly Naked at Anna Wintour’s House and the Rise of the Man Purse

Target’s Web President Exits Post-Missoni Ordeal: If you got stressed out trying to purchase those Target/Missoni collabs online when the site crashed, imagine what it was like for the poor guy in charge. Target announced that its web operations president, Steve Eastman, has left the company just a month after the fiasco, which caused more site traffic than on a typical Black Friday. {WWD}

Uniqlo Set to Become Largest Apparel Retailer on Planet Earth: The fast-expanding Japanese retailer is set to have 4,000 stores worldwide by 2020, and are opening 150 overseas stores this year alone. Uniqlo’s revenue goal for 2020 is $54 billion. Just… whoa. {WWD}

Doo Ri Designs Custom Dress for Michelle Obama: The always-stylish First Lady appropriately chose to wear a custom modified purple Doo Ri gown for a state dinner with Korean leaders. The Korean-American designer “loves that [Obama] supports young designers.” {Washington Post}

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Published at 12:52 PM

Friday September 23rd, 2011

Fashion News Roundup: Kanye Sits Front Row at Katie Eary, Naomi Campbell on CNBC and Some $31,000 Missoni For Target Wellies
Fashion News Roundup

Fashion News Roundup: Kanye Sits Front Row at Katie Eary, Naomi Campbell on CNBC and Some $31,000 Missoni For Target Wellies

Kanye Sits Front Row at Katie Eary’s Show: Yeezy sat front row at Katie Eary, who was recently announced as a designer on his own line–set to debut at Paris Fashion Week. Following the presentation, Eary gushed that her multi-talented design partner ‘Ye is “more dedicated [to designing] than I am. I feel jealous at his commitment.” {Elle UK}

How Bill Cunningham New York Made $1.5 Million: The co-presidents of Zeitgeist Films discuss the surprising success of their record-breaking documentary about the legendary New York Times street style photog. {IndieWire}

Naomi Campbell Doc Focuses on Life in Charity: The supermodel will get her own documentary on CNBC, chronicling her non-glam roots and extensive charity work. The show, airing next Wednesday the 28th, features commentary from Quincy Jones and Duran Duran. No word on whether the jucier stuff will be addressed: cell phones, diamond rings, wardrobe malfunctions… {Vogue UK}

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Published at 1:27 PM

Wednesday September 14th, 2011

Missoni for Target Now Selling for Regular Missoni Prices on eBay: Here are the Five Most Expensive Items Up for Auction

Missoni for Target Now Selling for Regular Missoni Prices on eBay: Here are the Five Most Expensive Items Up for Auction

The Missoni for Target collaboration was all about bringing Missoni’s iconic high-fashion designs to the masses–and at prices people can actually afford. But with the frenzy around the collection being what it was, some entrepreneurial shoppers thought to buy in bulk–and sell the rest on eBay for extravagantly high prices. In other words, it’s the fashion equivalent to scalping tickets.

Click through to see what Missoni for Target items are going for on eBay, right now. Some are upwards of $1000–and that’s nothing to sniff at, not even for a regular Missoni shopper (an average Missoni dress goes for around $1200)!

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Published at 7:00 PM
Missoni for Target Demand Higher Than Black Friday, Here’s What’s Still Available (The Rest is On eBay)

Missoni for Target Demand Higher Than Black Friday, Here’s What’s Still Available (The Rest is On eBay)

Is Missoni for Target the most in demand thing ever? As you may have heard, the highly anticipated Missoni for Target collection went on sale yesterday online and in stores. While Target’s brick and mortar locations seem to still be in one piece, the same cannot be said for Target.com, which crashed within a couple hours of becoming available, meaning even Target was unprepared for our Missoni for Target hunger.

Target told the Times, in a piece published this morning, that the demand was “unprecedented” and higher than Black Friday, you know, the biggest shopping day of the year. The Times hints that the crash may have had something to do with the fact that Target separated from Amazon’s ecommerce, but Target says it was due solely to the demand for the products, which we can believe. Shoppers even got creative by ordering over the phone and using Target’s mobile site. Desperate times!

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Published at 10:00 AM

Tuesday September 13th, 2011

Missoni for Target Shopping Frenzy Crashes Retailer’s Site Within Hours of Going Live

Missoni for Target Shopping Frenzy Crashes Retailer’s Site Within Hours of Going Live

Well, we could have seen this coming: The excitement around the 400-piece Missoni for Target collection–and the millions of eager shoppers–have crashed the retailer’s website.

At 6:04 am, Target tweeted that the online exclusives were now available for purchase on their site; by 6:46 am, the entire collection was up on their site–But a mere hour later, tweeters were reporting issues with the site, and by 10:00 am the retailer began responding to complaints and acknowledged the site was down. At 10:30 am, the retailer confirmed that “the overwhelming demand for #MissoniforTarget ended up taking our site down.”

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Published at 11:11 AM