C. Wonder

Concretely illustrating «pretentious douchiness» are those reviews of this brand that quibble about its quality. Those critics clearly know less than zero about the history of or the target demographic of C Wonder.
C Wonder was the brainchild of Chris Burch, the well-​known genius behind the «Tory Burch» brand. Tory may be the face of the brand but Chris – who remains a 50% shareholder in and on the Board of the Tory Burch company – was the driving force behind the brand. Long ago, he urged his then-​wife to develop a lower, introductory line (akin to Lilly Pulitzer for Target) bearing the Tory Burch name (which is a tried and true business model in the fashion industry). Tory declined to proceed with the idea. Chris, however, forged ahead, using some of the same designers and the identical manufacturing facilities as the Tory Burch brand. Although Tory herself was none-​too-​pleased with these arrangements, she very uncharacteristically NEVER filed suit against C Wonder.
Just as no sane person would compare the quality of Tory Burch’s off-​the-​rack frocks to Chanel couture, none would compare C Wonder’s products to Tory Burch’s. Different price points, fabrics and quality, by design. C Wonder’s goods did compare favorably with the goods of other companies in the same «space,» such as J. Crew and Ann Taylor. Further, the suggestion that the line was derivative is of no particular moment. Every design house has sampled from predecessors and contemporaries since the first toga was made many millennia ago. Indeed, Tory Burch’s own clothing designs are seemingly inspired by classic Lilly Pulitzer and her shoe designs influenced by Ferragamo.
The downfall of C Wonder cannot be attributed to «quality,» which correlated appropriately with its price point) but rather is the result of aggressive expansion in a compressed time-​frame in a still wobbly retail market. Demand simply was not on pace with supply. Chris personally invested in and lost a boatload of money on the C Wonder experiment, and hundreds of good, hard-​working folks lost their jobs. Those are not facts worth celebrating unless, of course, you are a Chico’s-wearing harridan.
The great news is that Chris Burch is continuing to work on new projects, including a partnership with Ellen DeGeneres for a lifestyle brand.

My gripe with C. Wonder is extensive.
Product quality? Sub-​par at best. The shoes and bags reflect cheaper materials and craftsmanship to reflect those cheaper price tags.
Sales staff? I could walk around this store ad nauseam without being offered proper customer service. Unimpressive, unremarkable and perhaps most noteworthy, unoriginal. An informed customer would know to take a walk upstairs and around the corner to admire the wares of Tory Burch, from which many of these designs are lifted quite purposefully. If you’re looking for a knock-​off, I suspect you’ll get a better deal and a similar product (with more attentive service, no doubt) on street corners in town.
Not that it’s relevant, since the brand no longer is, but:
:)

Saw a sales promo on Good Morning America for the «Nylon tote bag». Placed my order immediately for 1 small Navy bag. Order wouldn’t go through — message stated «insufficient quantity». I called the company repeatedly without any one answering or even a recorded message. Finally 2 hours later, someone did answer the phone to inform me that the bag was «sold out» and there was only pink or orange in stock with only 2 minutes left to order & she doubted that I would have time to get the order placed. They were offering the sale to the West coast area next.
I went on EBay & found the same bag from another store that had multiple colors & price comparable with the sale price in the larger size.
Such poor marketing and customer service! I would never recommend this company to anyone.