Thursday, August 21, 2008

John Derian for Target


I've fallen in love with John Derian's morbidly anatomical prints and whimsical sense of humor too many times to count. I even made a special pilgrimage to his store/studio in New York last week in the hopes of spending (no more than $50) on one of his gorgeous and subtly twisted objects of useful art. But drat the hated price tags! Sixty dollars for a paperweight the size of my thumb? In this economy? Really Mr. Derian? I was so furious, I wandered around the shop vaguely imagining running into the artist himself furiously covering hand-blown glasses with layers of antique script. (Of course he wasn't there. I'm sure he was of enjoying martinis on his yacht made of gold bricks. Or perhaps relaxing with a scotch in soda in his shadowy, well-appointed mansion sitting on top of a dark, lonely hill) May I remind you that, decoupage is a Victorian pastime disguised as pseudo art originally meant to occupy women? Curse you and your lovely antique star-maps pasted to the inside of pencil trays!!

Of course, I took it all back as soon as I opened the first page of the Domino magazine that came in my mail yesterday. I squeezed the first page with all the shock of reunited lover. John Derian's designs are to enter Target stores on September 7th with a lower priced line of stationary and home decor. Do you see these tears? They're tears of overbrimming happiness.

10 comments:

  1. Sabrina very funny but 3 years over.
    funny blog
    No yacht
    no gold bricks

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  2. No John Derian at Chicago Target. Is this a big hoax? I saw the ads, too, but no one at the store I visited knew anything about this.

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  3. I've been to two Targets in town (one of them today) and no John Derian. Nothing on their Web site either. They do a great job of bringing good design to the masses but they do terrible job of advertising it. They should at least have a teaser on their site and some word as to it being delayed.

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  4. I am a constant caller at my neighborhood target and their housewares product management expect their shipment no earlier than this Wednesday (Sept 9th). But knowing DC, I wouldn't bet on it arriving that soon. My guess is that the official release date is the week of September 7th, but trucking and shipping make that date loose and fast, give or take a week. YMMV at your local target, but it IS coming to high demand.

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  5. John Derian items have been spotted in Target stores in Pasedena, CA, NW Arkansas, and Brooklyn, NY. But they are selling out quickly with stationary and paper items typically being the last to go. Stationary might be harder to miss since it has been reported as having "End of Aisle" displays. While the official press release from Target insures select items will be avavilable online, none have yet appeared. Lastly, Target recently annouced that the items will be available for only 8 weeks.

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  6. Someone found them - they are already on ebay.

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  7. i was all over it at the WEST HOLLYWOOD store last sunday, SEPT 7TH, the supposed debut date, and everyone wearing anything close to a red shirt looked at me like i was nuts when i asked where the john derian stuff was. I spoke to the manager, and he looked at me like i was from mars. he took my biz card and promised to call me when he heard anything. have YOU heard from him??? where the hell am i?? Wasila, Alaska???

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  8. here's one of the listings on ebay:

    http://cgi.ebay.com/John-Derian-for-Target-Butterfly-Platter-Large-Tray_W0QQitemZ330270538024QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item330270538024&_trkparms=72%3A1163%7C39%3A1%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

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  9. Target has the items on their website now - search "John Derian" and voila! The stuff is there! There's about 25 items, including all the stuff that has been on ebay and in magazines, etc. It says that most items will ship in 2 - 6 weeks, so that may explain the hold up.

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  10. My understanding was this collection was a phased release, with the stationery items releasing first, then the plates/trays/larger items releasing about 1-2 weeks later. My visits to Targets in both Florida and Maryland seemed to support that -- all had the stationery items about a week and a half before the other items arrived. I found the plates, art and vases just last week, on an endcap, near the picture frames/wall art aisle in my store in suburban DC/Maryland. Very limited number of items, but the plates and trays were absolutely gorgeous.

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