Saturday, February 3, 2007

Proenza Schouler for Target turns to an insider trading case

I work in the securities industry, and the Attorney General makes sure that every single of us follow the rules not to trade securities before financial information is released to the public. This is a fair market. It's not the case in the fashion industry though, at least in the case where the Proenza Schouler for Target collection was released.

Opening Ceremony has a three day special event to sell the entire collection in their Soho store. Having seen how many people line up outside of the H&M stores for the special collaborations, I arrived at the store at 11am on Friday, the opening time announced on the store's website. However, by the time I entered the store, almost all small sizes were gone. What happened? Didn't they say that they were going to have ALL styles and ALL sizes available?

Then I was informed that there was a special party the night before for "VIP"s to make purchase ahead of the crowd. In addition, the Parsons' students were allowed to arrive at 9am on Friday to make purchase. Then I knew where those size XS and size 1 clothes went.

Check on Ebay. Items are up and being marketed, at twice of the price.

What a perfect case of insider trading! While people such as me would face jail time if traded before the public does so, people in the fashion world does it as a standard practice. The Attorney General apparently overlooked this.

Feeling unfairly treated, I arrived at 9am on Saturday morning trying to be the first in store when it opens at 11am. According to Opening Ceremony, they would have restocked with the entire collection overnight.

I was the first customer inline shortly before a dozen of other girls arrived. We waited in this freezing winter morning hoping to be able to pick out the items we liked. However, while we struggled with our painful feet due to the low temperature, the "Proenza Schouler team", the friends of so and so, and the girl who claimed that she interned at the boys' company "last March" got their way in to shop early. As a result, there were very few small sizes or popular styles left when the store was open to public. Enough said. You judge.

Now let's talk about the clothes. It's no doubt the best GO collection. Being a customer on both ends of the ready to wear market though, I have to warn you that this collection is nowhere near designer quality. The cotton gaze feels too flimsy to hold the shape after one wash, and the stitching doesn't always line up. The silk material, however, is rich and vibrant to hold for long. The Jackie O coat is a pleasant surprise as the tailoring is precise. The bustiers have sizing issues so make sure try on several of them for each size (if you are in a store) to find the best fit for you.

Love it or hate it, it's a collection that excited me after a month of "fashion break" in January. I don't doubt that it's going to be a great success later in Target, so don't wait for the sale. If you missed certain items as I did, let's just wait for the Target release. Don't pay for double on Ebay because they are insiders who traded before the puclic, and they are no different from the criminals.

4 comments:

  1. wow.. you're right, it's really not fair that there are no rules to prevent this in fashion.

    it never happened to me, though (I'm in Italy).

    another thing...i'm so sorry to bother you on your blog... but I'm desperate. I love tfs, how can I get an invite? I've been reading it daily for like... months... please! I love fashion and I wanna be able to write on there, it's amazing...

    pleeeeeease!

    (my email is britishkiller@gmail.com)

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  2. It almost reminds me of high school: if you're in the clique, you can be 'on trend', if not, tough luck.

    No other industry I know of tolerates as much of an insider/outsider divide (I've worked in a lot of industries as an IT consultant), it does seem to be something that's unique to fashion.

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  3. bargain queen,
    I think that you are totally correct. It's just in fashion. Many other industries are regulated but fashion. I'm wondering if it is going to change one day......

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  4. This is a great post!

    As you may or may not recall, I share your sizing gripes. And to think that the duo's Target collection was really a big hit with the press...

    Insider trading...love it!

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