Missoni for Target - The Aftermath.

And we're done here.  Most Target stores looked liek this
hours after the doors opened.

I just have to ask one question.  Just one.  Are you people insane?! 

Like much of upwardly mobile middle class America with some knowledge of fashion, I saw the Missoni for Target commericals on TV and waited with eager anticipation for that slow boat to pull into the dock.  And even though they offered guys a paltry selection of products to purchase (one grandpa sweater and a few ties?  Bitch please.) I still dropped in my local Target to see if there was anything marvelous.  It was as if it never happened!  Displays were barren, the signs still hanging from the ceiling like a flag above a desolate battle ground.  Not one stitch of Missoni left for anyone, anywhere.  Not one dish, throw, or candle.  What happen?, you may ask; well, I'll lay it on you.

Screen shot from the National commerical.

Missoni for Target looks.

Keep in mind my conjecture is often times closer to reality than most people like to admit, so let's just call the following scenario fact for the sake of argument.  Ahem.  Crazy people laid in wait outside their chosen store at an unholy hour of the morning.  When the doors open, a scene which I can only imagine was akin to the running of the Bulls in Pamplona ensued.  Greedy people with stubby little fingers careen their red carts toward moderately priced goods of Italian design and questionable origins and converge on it like jackals. 

Elbows are thrown, unwatched carts pillaged, stink eyes given.  Inevitably someone brought their brood of cranky kids and most likely they were miserable little wretches the whole time (note to the unaware - don't bring the kids to the bloodbath!  It messes up your game and angers the opposition.), and I shudder to think what they did to those poor people in the red shirts.  I know Target isn't union but I'd hope they have a nice medical package.  After the carcass is stripped, the gluttons cash out and make their way back home, fat with their spoils.



Really Target? Missoni at your disposal and you give men a Gramps sweater? 

 One would think that the lucky few who purchased the limited run of pieces would be happily wearing them and showing them off to their unlucky cohorts, but the story doesn't end there.  It ends on eBay, where, at 10:03 pm Sunday September 18th, there were over 700 pages of Missoni for Target products, all marked up to almost double the retail price found at the store.  Again, I must ask.  Are you people insane?!  700 pages?!

The pieces sold at Target are barely worth what they retail for; it's all acrylic and rayon blends, nowhere near the quality of the real McCoy found at Saks or Neimans.  Yes, I know the price point is way beyond that of Target, but with a name like Missoni, you're purchasing design, heritage, and above all, quality.  A true Missoni will last a lifetime.  Targets version will be pulled out of shape and unravelling before the month is through.  It's the Missoni look at Target prices, but it will not become a cherished and envied heriloom like the real deal will.


The bike, which would have forced me to think of actually
riding it, though it would probably get stolen the first time
I left it locked outside Starbucks.



Now that eBay is littered with the collection, we finally have the variety we were promised (it was the largest designer tie in for the store, some 400 items) but how many people will be desperate enough to shell out $1,600.00 plus shipping for the Missoni emblazoned bike that originally cost $400.00?  Or over $100.00 for some $39.00 pumps that are worth $20.00 at best?  I'm thinking not many, but I could be wrong.  But I don't think I am.

- Ian

P.S. - Rumors of a second shipment abound, but who knows when it will arrive or what will be in it.  Odds are, there will be another repeat of the early morning stampede.  So, either gird your loins and join the fight, or save your pennies for an authentic Missoni from Saks on sale.