A week ago I posted about the growing trend of selling clothes made by luxury designers in the inexpensive, mass-retail market. It’s a move that has been going on for years, first noticeably by Target, and followed up by Adidas, and H&M. You could also include the Martha Stewart household products for Kmart, the artist series by DC shoes and even Ikea -- a list for this “design for plebes” thing could on for a while.

Recently, the noise behind Metro 7 has also been growing. Available from Wal-Mart, (which I believe is the least likely of all those "mart" stores to successfully cash in on the trend) Metro 7 will offer shoppers trendy pieces like handbags, jeans, flirty skirts, shrugs and tank tops, with most items priced below 20 dollars. The February 9th issue of WWD devoted a full-length front cover story to the success of Metro 7. Though the line does not have a designer name associated with it, (like Isaac Mizrahi for Target, or Karl Lagerfeld for H&M) it’s obvious that the line is intended to be Bentonville, Arkansas’s response to the craze. The article noted that Metro 7 is “the first step in targeted, data-driven initiatives to help Wal-Mart win over its selective shoppers...” and that as a major clothing retailer, Wal-Mart “has begun to operate more like a fashion company. It has opened a New York design office and is now willing to schmooze editors with freebies.”

Though there’s no creative name associated with the line, there will be a face. A very good-looking face. An article on www.dexigner.com reported:

Wal-Mart has signed Dayanara Torres, actress, singer and mother, to represent the Metro 7 line in a marketing campaign that includes print advertising, signage, and promotional video footage, as well as in a series of in-store personal appearances. Ms. Torres was the youngest woman ever selected to be Miss Universe, and has had her own television program as well as a successful singing career.

Claire Watts, Wal-Mart executive vice president of apparel and home, says, “Dayanara perfectly embodies the modern, fashionable woman, and we’re thrilled she is the ‘face’ for the Metro 7 launch. She’s a young, beautiful mother whom our customers will find both approachable and inspirational.”

Watts continues, “If it’s important for the season, we’ll have it in the line. We’re staying on top of key trends that are coming out of Paris and New York, so our fashion-conscious customer can find them in our stores and online.”

I smart move I think. Lots of people love fashionable clothes, though few people have the money to spend on it. Isn't that what makes the queens of disposible fashion, H&M and Target, so succesful? An article from Business Week highlighted the financial aspects of the trend:

And offering more fashionable apparel has clearly helped Target streak ahead of Wal-Mart when it comes to attracting customers who spend more. Target's same-store sales -- sales at stores open at least one year -- have outpaced Wal-Mart's every month this year.

In September, Target's same-store numbers were up 5.6%, vs. a 3.8% increase for Wal-Mart. And even though Wal-Mart is attracting customers with fatter wallets, the average annual salary of a Wal-Mart customer is still $35,000, vs. $50,000 for Target's typical shopper.

From a consumers point of view, I again have a love/hate relationship with this trend. While my bank account and I are happy to see some decent looking, inexpensive clothes on the market (especially since some of these supposed cheap-o designer lines at other stores are still beyond my budget) the idea of clothes shopping at the suburban mega-mart, with a cart full of detergent, light blubs, and tires (or whatever it is that we all buy there) kind of weirds me out.