Target Disses Gossip Girl
Reports surface that the brand backed out of a massive shoot in Soho
Patrick McMullan
Fashion plates Blair and Serena were reportedly sent Anna Sui for Target clothing to wear on the show before Target backed out.
In the past year, it seems like everyone has gotten onto the "Gossip Girl" bandwagon, from the recent success of Abigail Lorick (the designer behind the show's fictional "Waldorf Designs") to Anna Sui's collection for Target, which is inspired by the characters on the show.
The Daily News reports, however, that Target may be backing down from some of its official ties with the show. An on-the-set source told the Daily News that Anna Sui's collection for Target (which isn't available in stores until September 13) was scheduled to play a prominent role in a shoot last Tuesday. The cast has been filming in Soho much of the week, and apparently one scene was scheduled to take place inside Sui's flagship on Greene Street in which the new Target collection was heavily promoted -- extras were going to wear pieces from the new line and there was going to be a fair amount of signage posted to promote the new collaboration. Then, at the last minute, the store pulled out.
According to the Daily News's source, everyone on set was pretty furious and thrown into a bit of a tizzy to re-arrange their plans. The source guessed that Target's top execs might have gotten cold feet, given the often-scandalous nature of the show, but frankly that seems highly unlikely considering the show's content is pretty well-known at this point and Target's going ahead with Sui's big launch in September. It seems more likely that it was genuinely a case of some terrible scheduling, which is doubtless going to cause the Anna Sui for Target press folks more than a few headaches as they get closer to launch.
