Yesterday, US-based designer Jason Wu announced a more affordable line, Miss Wu, which will exclusively be available at Nordstrom stores and online (great news for international fans!). This line, according to WWD, will feature both ready-to-wear pieces, with accessories being added at a later date.
A look from Miss Wu
Designers having affordable lines, are, of course, nothing new. Marc Jacobs has Marc by Marc Jacobs, VAWK has VAWKKIN and Ralph Lauren has many different lines ad different price points. However, do not mistake this with a designer collaboration. Price points for Miss Wu start at just under $200. At the same time, some wonder whether having different lines, serving different customers is necessarily a good idea. On one hand, it can be seen as a “stepping stone” to the “main line” – especially if it’s marketed under a different name (which all of the above mentioned are doing), but on the other hand, it can backfire or cheapen (for lack or a better term) – especially store collaborations that aren’t done properly.
Look from VAWKKIN, VAWK’s more “affordable”/”simpler” line
As a consumer, I’ve shopped both “affordable lines” and designer collaborations, and while most designer collaborations, have been decent, I have to say that my experience with Jason Wu for Target (which was sold at a one day pop-up store in Toronto as our first Target stores don’t open until 2013) was definitely not as good as my H&M experiences. Sizing was disappointing and material was, for the most part, awful (though it was definitely wallet-friendly). People really only lined up for the collection because of the name (okay, so you get the same thing for H&M, but at least H&M is better at “fashion”) and I felt that many of those who were there were not the same people who went to the H&M sales. At least, from what I recall, the event was fairly civilized. Few people were fighting over the same article of clothing.
Of course, that all had to do with demographics. While there’s a lot of crossover, the typical Target customer probably doesn’t shop at H&M. Price points are often different – H&M collaborations are, at least in the past couple of years, pricier on average, than Target collaborations, and more fashion-forward and perhaps, faddish. “Affordable” lines are an entirely different species, sold at boutiques and department stores and are permanent fixtures. And while they have a lower price point than the “main” line, it probably isn’t “affordable” to many.
Image credits: First image via WWD’s Pinterest account; Second image by Cynthia Cheng Mintz
