Many self-styled sophisticates like to bemoan the ever-increasing mass-market nature of our society.  They turn up their noses at bargain hunters who shop at chain stores, preferring exclusive designer labels instead.  However, the very taste-setters these trend-fiends turn to, the designers who dream up their precious and pricey duds, are beginning to embrace the mass-audience and it’s massive desire for “design on a dime.”  This trend is popping up in such stores as Target, where in addition to their existing collections from Isaac Mizrahi and Liz Lange the Go International line has brought in collections from such design darlings as Behnaz Sarafpour, Proenza Schouler, and Libertine.  Target even features a line of handbags and accessories from New York favorite Rafe.  Recently Gap jumped in on the high-end style meets low-prices trend with a Designer Edition line of blouses and shirt dresses from such big names as Rodarte, Doo Re, and Thakoon. (Yes, they sound like a neighborhood ethnic restaurant, but they’re just the Tom, Dick, and Harry from any recent issue of VogueElle.) If you ask me, it’s about time good design became a bit more democratic—sorry to all the sniffling sophisticates out there!