Premier Designers? Any of thoughts of the following?

spanielpup

Member
Feb 8, 2011
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So I was visiting Nordstroms today and was informed at Via C, that they are moving Vince to Individualist and out of designer collections. This made me wonder how many "premier designers" are still out there and whether what I thought was a solid brand may not be so. This is not just a label thing, Alice + Olivia is considered "designer" but their stuff is made like crap. I am wondering how many other "designer" brands are not really worth the sticker price.

I have a short list of a couple I am specifically interested in:
Ran & Bone
Milly
T by Alexander Wang (I know Alexander Wang is)
Gryphon
Mcginn
autumn cashmere
Clu
Tory Burch

Thoughts and opinions greatly appreciated!
 
I agree OP, most so called designer stuff is basically not. They're a business with a concept that makes product surrounded by hype, when you see the clothes you know more money and effort went into marketing than the manufacturing.

I would call most of those brands 'boutique' rather than designer.

Go by garment to garment as not all items by one brand are made in one place and are usually out-sourced.

The only one I can vouch for from experience is Milly and then only their dresses.
 
Different stores categorize their brands in different ways. At BG, NM, Saks and Barneys, those type of brands you mentioned are considered "contemporary", not designer. Then again, at NM they refer to the designer floor as the couture floor which drives me nuts. Sometimes I correct them and say "you mean ready to wear?". Couture is supposed to be made to order. I guess it is all just semantics!

As for the brands you mentioned, I consider them a step up from somewhere like J. Crew. Most items aren't very well made these days regardless of brand or price (very few like H). If I see a contemporary item I love (like DVF) I wait for it to go on sale. The last DVF dress I bought had the hem fall out of it after two wears. Not really worth $400 IMO. So these days I have turned to mostly vintage pieces that are really well made.
 
I wouldn't consider those brands designer, but they aren't priced like designer either. To use an old fashioned term I think of them as "bridge." I have been extremely happy with my Vince purchases, for example, and don't really care how the brand is classified.
 
Different stores categorize their brands in different ways. At BG, NM, Saks and Barneys, those type of brands you mentioned are considered "contemporary", not designer. Then again, at NM they refer to the designer floor as the couture floor which drives me nuts. Sometimes I correct them and say "you mean ready to wear?". Couture is supposed to be made to order. I guess it is all just semantics!

As for the brands you mentioned, I consider them a step up from somewhere like J. Crew. Most items aren't very well made these days regardless of brand or price (very few like H). If I see a contemporary item I love (like DVF) I wait for it to go on sale. The last DVF dress I bought had the hem fall out of it after two wears. Not really worth $400 IMO. So these days I have turned to mostly vintage pieces that are really well made.

^That! :yes:

All those brands the OP mentioned are not considered to be "designer" by me...
 
A mid-range department store I used to work at considered Izod, Tommy Hilfinger, MK by Michael Kors, Ralph Lauren, and Coach "designer"... depends on the retailer and how they want to position the merchandise to their customer.

but to ME.. premier designers are in the category of Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Fendi, Dior, Valentino, Versace, etc.
 
I think Via C is not consider a designer department. Nordstrom has a designer department call "Collectors" (or "the collectors") selling all premium brands such as Dolce & Gabbana, Fendi, Dior, Valentino, Versace, Balenciaga and Rick Owens etc. etc.

Both Savvy & Via C are considered "contemporary" departments... only difference is that Savvy is targeted for much younger clients.
 
I consider the brands you listed as "contemporary" brands, not designer. But i love contemporary brands and my wardrobe is a mix of contemporary as well as designer. There are only a handful of brands i consider true designer brands and these days they have their lesser price point lines that i consider contemporary. For instance Versace is designer but Versus is contemporary. Alexander McQueen is designer but McQ is contemporary. I do however consider D&G designer even though it is the lesser line...