Missoni for Target

Didn't know that Marc Jacobs was once on Grindr? NOW YOU KNOW.

Déjà vu!

We're experiencing some Target x Missoni deja vu right now--the Opening Ceremony website is down.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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:

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.

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?"

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}

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}

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)!

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!

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."

So, you might have heard that Missoni is doing this little 400 piece collection for Target. Yes? You've heard of it? We thought so. Based on reader reactions and the shopping frenzy the Target pop-up shop inspired in NYC (everything sold out in five and a half hours), we guarantee you this collection is going to sell out in no time. And it goes on sale early tomorrow morning (try starting around 1 a.m.) online and in stores around 9. Browse the full look book in the meantime, and plan your attack!

It's safe to say that we've had Missoni on the brain these past few weeks...from the retro-inspired ad campaigns, to the drool-worthy 400-piece lookbook and our frantic shopping spree. Needless to say, when we saw the lovely Margherita Missoni at Charlotte Ronson we had to pick the heiress's brain about the collection--because if you needed another reminder, it goes on sale TOMORROW. What was your favorite item from the collaboration? There is a back and white zig zag coat that I think is really great.

Last night we got a chance to shop the Missoni for Target collection and boy were we excited. In fact, we were so excited that we arrived 10 minutes early so we could get first dibs on some of our most-drooled-over items. Unfortunately, it seems like every other fashion insider had the same idea, because by the time we got there the temporary pop-up shop had become a temporary madhouse, with some of the items already sold out (don't worry, they will restock today). See what fashion industry's superstars--from Nina Garcia to celebrity stylist Jennifer Rade and ex-Real Housewife Kelly Bensimon--were toting at the checkout.

Missoni for Target doesn't drop until September 13th, but lucky New Yorkers will get a chance to shop the collection--which the internet has been practically drooling over--as soon as September 8th. Missoni and Target are opening up shop at 1095 Sixth Avenue (at 42nd Street) on Fashion's Night Out. But don't get too excited: The store will only be open for three days, or as long as supplies last--which considering the hype around this collection may not be long--and we're sure all three days will be completely BANANAs. So, in order to stay sane (and maximize your shopping time) we've done some careful research and come up with the top 10 smartest purchases from the Missoni for Target collection. Click through to see our top 10 picks.

Are you seeing zigzags yet? As we countdown to September 13, when Missoni for Target finally hits stores, Target continues to build hype by dropping little tidbits about the collection. In this just-released video, campaign star and brand ambassadress Margherita Missoni walks and talks us through the making of the campaign in Milan, and gives us a little background about the family label. The collection looks even better styled to perfection on Ms. Missoni on the piazzas of Milano and we can't wait to shop it ourselves. Still haven't figured out what you're getting yet? Here's the full collection.

You've heard the hype, seen the ads and the previews, and gotten appropriately worked up over the epic 400-piece Missoni for Target collection. Now you can start planning which items to buy and see what they look like on someone other than Margherita Missoni. The full lookbook is here, and it's a field day of colorful zigzags and swirly patterns with a slight mod vibe.

All the Way Up Here, the Tumblr penned by "Marina" who is a "real doll" that Target is using to promote their massive 400-piece Missoni for Target collection, has released a pretty substantial sneak peek at the collection. (Marina the doll says Missoni for Target campaign front woman Margherita Maccapani Missoni gave her the peek at the look book. Harhar.) The bike is there, so are swimsuits, dresses, shawl cardigans and ties for dudes, dishware and luggage. The collection hits Target in store and online on September 13. Take a look--what will you buy?

more Missoni's highly-anticipated, gigantic collection for Target will encompass everything from mens and womens clothes to accessories to furniture