Proenza Schouler on Target's PS1 Knockoff
Photo: Net-a-Porter.com
The Proenza Schouler PS1 Large leather satchel, $1,995; available at Net-a-Porter.
For buzzy young designers with booming accessories businesses, dealing with knockoffs is practically part of the job description. But for Proenza Schouler, a label that had partnered with mass retailer Target in the past, it’s personal.
Cathy Horyn’s On the Runway blog reports that the brand’s beloved PS1 bag has an uncanny copy by Mossimo on the sales floor at Target—a knockoff that smarts for designers Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough because they created a Go International collection for the store (which, because of the recent Go International anniversary reissue, is being sold now).
“So our product is in Target right now, and then this bag comes out,” Shirley Cook, Proenza Schouler’s CEO, told Horyn. “It’s just disappointing, especially from someone we worked with.”
“The attitude, the slouch of the bag—they got the weight really right,” observed Hernandez of the Mossimo bag, which can be seen here.
“Yeah, why save up and buy ours when you can buy theirs right away?” said McCollough.
For their part, Target claims the bag is not a counterfeit. A spokesperson for the company said, “Target is committed to offering our guests everyday essentials alongside highly differentiated merchandise, all at a great value. It always has been and continues to be the policy of Target to respect the intellectual property rights of others.”
Get the full story from the New York Times.
