Like Marc by Marc Jacobs, RED Valentino, Z Spoke (Zac Posen), and Miu Miu (Prada), the brand MICHAEL Michael Kors extends a cheaper version of the brand to cater to low-end retail outlets.
Indeed when you’re rocking MICHAEL Michael Kors, you are really wearing the brand made to cater to a lower price point. Michael Kors is the real name brand, original line ~ where the bags and shoes are upwards of $1000 vs. $250.
The clothes, shoes, and bags in diffusion lines or secondary lines are typically made with cheaper materials, less-expensive fabrics, and use mass stitching and no resource-intensive processes. A diffusion line (or bridge line) is a secondary line of merchandise created by a high-end designer that retails at lower prices….
Example: here’s a See by Chloe leather crossbody bag vs. one of the Chloe crossbody bags!
So before you run off buying a “name brand” make sure it actually is!
Here’s a fairly extensive list of designers and their diffusion lines…..
DIFFUSION DESIGNER
10 Crosby Derek Lam
Armani Exchange Armani
BDL Ben de Lisi
Cheap & Chic Moschino
CK Calvin Klein
D&G Dolce & Gabbana
DKNY Donna Karan
DRKSHDW Rick Owens
Emporio Armani Armani
Farhi Nicole Farhi
Giamba Giambattista Valli
Just Cavalli Roberto Cavalli
Karl Karl Lagerfeld
L’Agent Agent Provocateur
Marc Marc Jacobs
McQ Alexander McQueen
MICHAEL Michael Kors Michael Kors
Mimi Holliday Damaris
Miss Wu Jason Wu
Miu Miu Prada
MW Matthew Williamson
Notte Marchesa
Overture Judith Leiber
Pierre Balmain Balmain
RED Valentino Valentino Garavani
Richard Chai Love Richard Chai
See Chloe
Simply Vera Vera Wang
Sonia Sonia Rykiel
T Alexander Wang
Versus Versace
Victoria Victoria Beckham
Wannabe Patrick Cox
Z Spoke Zac Posen
Zac Zac Posen Zac Posen
2 Responses
I never knew the difference between Diffusion Lines and Designer labels – to be honest, I’ve never even heard the term, “Diffusion Lines” before, so this is super interesting and definitely great to know. Thanks for sharing.
Kelly – although you may not have known the formal names, you likely/intuitively knew there was a difference between Marc Jacobs and Marc by Marc Jacobs…