Just Because it Says 'Made in Italy'...

Just because a clothing label says 'Made in Italy', doesn't automatically mean it's great quality. And that is what I'd like to point out with a few brands Daffy's has gotten in recently. First off, I'll start with a brand called FB -

FB -- also produces under 'EP', 'FB Class', 'Kevin Up', 'Next Trend' and a few other labels. For the past year or so, including this season, Daffy's has gotten loads of suits, sportcoats and pants from this brand. But you only have to take a quick look at the merchandise to know it's sub-par goods. The design on almost everything is out-of-date, and the materials used are often synthetic. Furthermore, trying on just about any garment from this brand, you'll notice that it just doesn't fit properly.

The one thing that particularly upsets me is that Daffy's has carried this brand for at least the past two seasons, and it's always the stuff left over on the clearance racks at the end of the season. Clearly no one wants this stuff, and Daffy's customers realize it's not worth their money -- so why don't Daffy's buyers get the message and stop stocking the stuff? (The same question pertains to all of the brands listed here, as well as ones mentioned in prior posts -- Kemitch, all of the various Cosby Sweater-brands ('Stacatto', 'Birillo')

Next are several brands that came in this week in shirting, I believe the first two at least are manufactured by the same company -- Asso di Cuori, Roberto Galifa and Theatre. As for the first two, Daffy's starting stocking them last season (F/W 2010) -- The shirts from Asso di Cuori and Roberto Galifa border on dressy, probably more casual. The problem being the styling on the shirts is about a decade old, and even though they're made out of cotton, the stuff is extremely thin and poorly made. Also, if you get a chance, take a look at the labels and the hang-tags on these two brands -- they look like they came straight out of the 80's -- the Galifa shirts even have a picture of some guy on their tag who looks like he came off the front of the Inernational Male catalog from back then.

As for Theatre, Daffy's got in a small selection of casual shirts which look like stuff rejected by Aeropostale (note -- this stuff isn't even good enough to have been in an Abercrombie or American Eagle) -- basically some thin-cotton white buttondown shirts with vertical stripes -- think of the collegiate-style shirts pandered at those aforementioned stores for the last decade. And on the front pocket is embroidered a little elephant. Those shirts would be lucky to sell at Old Navy for $10. But they're made in Italy, so they must be good!?!

Some of the stuff Daffy's gets in is amazing -- Jey Cole Man, Gazzarrini, Patrizia Pepe, Mabitex, Simon Peet, Futuro/Asfalto, Mastai Ferreti, Alea, etc... -- it's a decent-sized list, but could use much further expansion. But when I see the stuff mentioned earlier in this post, I wonder to myself what Daffy's buyers are thinking. Customers are not going to buy something just because the tag says 'Made in Italy' - we all know better than that. If they need to simply stock the store, perhaps they would be best served by taking a look at some of the brands available on Yoox.com. But either way, there should be a taste-level when purchasing stuff for the store, and these brands fall way below any threshold anyone in touch with modern style and quality would set.