More Designers seek Affordable Retail Entry Points

This week bought more fashion news to the world of designers for less. It has been announced that J.C. Penney Co. is becoming the exclusive department store for Liz Claiborne Inc.’s namesake brands. What does this mean to you? I am assuming that you will find Claiborne designers on the JC Penney racks come fall 2010. The Liz Claiborne press release notes that Claiborne will continue to make the designs, but that they will now be exclusively marketed and sold at Jean Claude Penney. My question of course is, will the lower Penney’s price point affect the overall quality of the Claiborne brand? Will the fabrics used be of the same quality and the patterns of the same size. It will be interesting to see.

My fellow blogger Target-Addict notes that the Liz Claiborne New York brand designed by Isaac Mizrahi will be moved to the QVC home shopping network and out of department stores entirely. At least Issac found a home. QVC has been moving a lot of designer wear and seems to be almost bullet proof. Vivenne Tam and Erin Fetherston now have QVC lines.

Pictured: John Bartlett for Claiborne collection picture.

The saddest casualty of this deal is the new John Bartlett Claiborne for men’s line. Racked and The Cut report that John Bartlett for men will be shutting down. I recently took a camera crew to Loehmann’s Beverly Hills looking for bargains for the office. The best-looking men’s suit we found was a John Bartlett suit. He is such a talented designer! Watch this space to see what his next move will be.

All I can say is bargain shoppers, watch the Claiborne website for sales as they migrate to their new JC Penney home. Issac at Claiborne is already on sale for 20% off of retail. Click here to check it.

Well, good for JC Penney for snatching up another great brand for their customers. They’ve been in business since 1902, and all indicators are they will be going strong for years to come! If you’re interested in checking out JC Penney today, they are having a Columbus Day sale on-line and in the store. Use the promo code in the ad below for savings on designers like Nicole Miller and Bisou Bisou.