I stopped by the Target in Brooklyn on my way home last night and was surprised to see almost the entire Anya Hindmarch line of bags, because they aren’t supposed to be in stores until October 12. Since I discovered they were available for pre-order online earlier this week, I have been debating which bag to buy — it’s hard to tell what they’ll be like in person from photos online. But now that I’ve seen them, I don’t think I’ll be buying any of them because of one little detail: The buckles all read “Anya Hindmarch for Target.” Now, I know that people would recognize the bag as being from her cheap line for Target. It’s clearly not made of expensive leather. I would have been totally okay with the inside lining having the store name printed on it, which it does, but why does “for Target” have to be stamped onto the metal buckle? I would feel the same way if a designer did a line for Macy’s and it said “for Macy’s” on the outside. Designer logos annoy me enough, and store names or logos just shouldn’t appear on clothing or accessories except on the tag. If Anya Hindmarch was trying to maintain the integrity of her brand by putting the “for Target” on the outside, she probably should have created a new name for her Target line, the way Grey Ant calls their Urban Outfitters offshoot “Grey Antics.”

For those of you still interested in buying one of the bags, some of the bags have the “for Target” written more discretely under the Anya Hindmarch bow logo. Oh, and the store also had a couple pairs of Sigerson Morrison flats. They looked cute and well-made, with no labels in sight. Too bad they didn’t have my size. Keep reading »