On a recent Glacial night in New York City, a gaggle of fashion editors flocked to a Seventh Avenue studio to sip piccolos of sparkling wine and collectively rhapsodize over a new clothing collection by Patrick Robinson for Target. "I want to order a few things," one editor blithely declared while admiring a rakish pleated dress with chocolate medallion print that will sell for $34.99 when it arrives in stores in May. Her Astrakhan coat and patent-leather boots might have been wildly expensive, but few—not even style arbiters—can resist the allure of fast fashion.
Absent from the preview was Target executive...