Evil Grinches have decided to leave Christmas alone this season and instead steal our favorite styles. The mean little devils stole Marc Jacobs' entire Spring 2012 collection from the truck just after it left Paris. The collection was on its way to various spots in Europe to be presented to discerning buyers and P.R. reps, but clearly Marc Jacobs' plans were thwarted. Apparently, all 46 looks (not just pieces, but entire outfits) were burglarized, and I would assume that Marc and his team are more than a little distraught.
Samples are one of a kind, generally speaking. They're the items on which orders are placed. And without the samples to review and make purchases, the whole spring buy-in is in jeopardy. But there's some good news.
It's more than likely that the thieves were connected to the black market somehow. Either that, or they were one zealous group of fashion fiends who just couldn't wait to get their hands on the structured yet feminine frocks. Right now the MJ spring collection is probably being copied over and over and over again by people readying to sell them on the streets for half the retail price. If you know where to look, you can probably snatch up the stolen designs, which might be good news for you, you savvy, back alley shopper.
Having worked in fashion for a while, I remember how closely guarded samples were. Not only that, but there was a lot of racial discrimination when it came to sample previews -- executives were worried that some people were posing as buyers but were really shopping the as of yet one-of-a-kind goods so that they could make copies. Needless to say, samples are protected because their value is close to priceless. Without them, no orders can be placed, which means no money can be made. Yikes.
Marc Jacobs hasn't yet released what they plan on doing, but I'm sure they're scrambling to figure something out. In the meantime, I theorize that there are some people busy at work in factories copying each design stitch by stitch.
Have you ever purchased ripped-off clothes or bags?
Photo via Peter Michael Dills/Getty