Are Designer/Department Store Collaborations Knocking Off Their Consumers?

Designer/department store collaborations have been a convenient way for people to have accessibility to a brand they may not otherwise be able to afford. Not to mention the obvious perks to the designer working - accessible fashion for us little people who don't have thousands to spend on high end fashion.

Being one of those people, I'm in favor of supporting a designer that I love by purchasing a collaborative, limited edition item from a department store. Hence, Karl Lagerfeld for Macys. Let's face it - I'll never have the money to buy Chanel. But if I can get something that he designed, with the same appeal as the brand I love, at a more economical price, I'm all in.

Photos via Macys

But some people view lower-end pieces being sold in a department stores as cheating. Which leads me to ask:

Is a collaboration between a designer and a department store technically a "knock off"?

Yes and no, but for me, it's a no. So because it's a"guest designer" piece, it's not really a designer piece? Sure, it doesn't have the couture label on it, but in my opinion, it's from the same designer who's pieces you love from their other collections. The idea is there - just in a cheaper form.

I can only speak for myself when I say that if I bought a Karl Lagerfeld piece from Macys, which I plan on doing, that I would feel like I purchased a designer piece.

What are your thoughts on designer collaborations? Is it fooling people into thinking they are buying designer duds?