Sasson v "Sosueme" - Counterfeit Designer Jeans

My friend from New Jersey called, all excited. "I got you a pair of Sasson designer jeans!" Of course, like many people, she mispronounced the name "Sassoon," as in the brand of shampoo. So did some of their own commercials.

Designer jeans? Who can forget those commercials? Jordache, Gloria Vanderbilt, Sergio Valente and of course Sasson. To many of us they were an affection. People paid top dollar to have the name of some "designer" (what else did Jordache "design?") on their backsides. The pants were also uncomfortable: rigid, skin-tight, with fabric that felt like sandpaper. The idea of faded, comfortable jeans was out; designer duds were supposed to look like you just got them home from the store. Some people even had their dry cleaned, starched and pressed to preserve the look. What? Starched blue jeans?!

I had few "designer" items in my wardrobe, aside from what people like my friend gave me. Where I was from there were only two brands of jeans: Lees or Levi's. Anything else could get you labeled a "Disco," which, for a Deadhead type like myself, symbolized just about everything we despised: conspicuous consumption, materialism,  and the Bee-Gees. But, the message was starting to get through to me that a lot of people liked this stuff, including the ladyfriend who called me that day after returning from the Paramus Mall.

But wait a minute! There was something strange here. Not only were the pants my friend bought cheaply-made, but they didn't even have the Sasson logo. Then we saw the tag; in letters so small you could barely read them it read "SOSUEME."

Counterfeit designer clothes were a big item, but I never heard of somebody getting them at a mall before. A while later, my parents gave me a pair of 'real' Sasson corduroy pants. I thought they were no big deal, and they wore out quickly.

Eventually Sasson stopped mispronouncing their name in their commercials (perhaps they were sued by the shampoo manufacturer). The firm went bankrupt.