Mishandled money. An ousted chairman. Public fury. Sounds like the latest political drama, right?

But last September, this scenario wasn’t played out at some press conference in Washington, D.C. Instead, thousands of people logged onto Target’s website to get their hands on the mass retailer’s fashion collaboration with legendary Italian label Missoni. This mania resulted in multiple website crashes, canceled orders, incompetent customer service, the exit of Target.com’s president from the company and quite a few furious fashionistas.

Target’s latest collaboration, with designer Jason Wu, launched Sunday and isn’t faring much better. Target still hasn’t figured out how to control its online shoppers or create a stress-free experience. The collection started trickling out around 12:30 a.m. Sunday, but with only a few pieces at a time and not readily available to everyone. I spent two hours on my computer, feverishly clicking refresh to get a dress and blouse.

I wasn’t the only one frustrated. Half the comments on Target Style’s Facebook page were from thrilled customers, but the other half were expletive-laden, with shoppers infuriated that the site wasn’t working. A Styleite article published at 1 p.m. Sunday reported that 38 of the 49 items originally made available online were already sold out.

It isn’t unusual for big-name fashion houses to put out a lower-priced line. Karl Lagerfeld, Donatella Versace and Jimmy Choo all designed lines for H&M, while lesser-known labels like Anna Sui, Rodarte and Proenza Schouler created exclusive collections for Target. Many of the Target lines sold out within hours online, while lengthy lines formed at H&M and employees corralled customers into shopping sections with a time limit.

According to a New York Times article published in November, the high-low designer collaboration is mutually beneficial to both parties. Marc Beckman, Designers Management Agency founder who works with designers like Schouler and Derek Lam to connect them to collaborators, said in the article that payment often reaches seven figures for the designer. For the retailer, on the other hand, success is measured in the amount of media coverage. Missoni for Target was featured in more than 40 magazines and seen by billions of people.

But this popularity only made the ensuing meltdown worse, and the blogosphere exploded after the Missoni debacle. Shopping news site Racked published dozens of angry reader emails, many stating that buying from the collaboration wasn’t worth the aggravation. But isn’t the whole point of these collaborations to make the designs easily accessible to those who can’t afford them otherwise? Instead, according to a Styleite article, tons of Missoni-Target products were offered at a celebrity-laden pre-Emmy party, while hundreds of orders were canceled for the people the line actually targeted.

To make matters worse, many people take advantage of the hysteria. A day after the Missoni launch at Target, the products of the collaboration were selling for normal Missoni prices on eBay, according to a Fashionista article. The quality of the products is also frustrating; much of the Missoni line showcased gaudy colors in easily recognizable patterns, further proving there’s no reason to drop $50 on an acrylic sweater that is essentially from Target, just attached to a designer label. Jason Wu’s collection has this problem as well. Though the clothes are subtler (i.e., more wearable), the products appeared on eBay at inflated prices a week before their actual release but a day after an exclusive shopping event in NYC.

Yet these collaborations also have their benefits. Very few people can afford a Rodarte gown or a pair of Jimmy Choos, but when they’re made available at stores where most people shop and at affordable prices, it becomes a win-win situation. Fashionistas on a budget get their designer fix, and labels get their brand to people who probably wouldn’t have heard of them otherwise.

Despite their downfalls, these collaborations are now a seminal part of fashion culture. I already have my ticket booked to NYC for the Marni x H&M collaboration next month, and I anxiously await the announcement of the next Target team-up with bated breath — I have my fingers crossed for Miu Miu.

Julie Kosin is a sophomore magazine journalism major. Her column appears every other Monday. She can be reached at jkkosin@syr.edu. Follow her on Twitter at @juliekosin.  

Published on February 5, 2012 at 12:00 pm