What's Up with Target Knocking Off Their Supposed Collaborators?

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We noticed Target's really funky-smelling Proenza Schouler PS1 knockoffs last month when we were checking out the officially sanctioned Linea Pelle collab?and apparently, so did lots of other people, including Proenza designers Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez. Who participated in an official Target collab, but not on bags. Messrs. McCollough and Hernandez are understandably bummed. They made a polite request that Target stop selling the bags; Target said, "I don't think so." The official statement sidesteps the ripoff issue completely:

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.

And yes, it can be argued that it's hard to "own" certain stylistic elements, and even that the PS1 looks remarkably similar to the Mulberry Alexa bag, but still?we wonder what the folks at Dolce Vita, who have a Target collab on the shelves right now, think about at least one of their shoes being so faithfully replicated by Target with a price tag that's about $60 less.
· Unannounced Target Handbag Collab Already on the WeHo Floor [Racked LA]
· Target Knocks Off Proenza's PS1 [Racked]
· Proenza Schouler Doesn’t Care for Target’s Messenger [NY Times]