Renee Ferguson Reports: Deceit By Design?
Department Store Bridal Salon Investigated
POSTED: 9:56 a.m. CST February 28, 2002
NOTES:
Marshall Field's has a phone number for customers concerned about the following report: (800) 443-8232.
E-mail Renee Ferguson. Please include your name, phone number, and e-mail address.
RENEE FERGUSON: It's tradition. The bride wears something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. KIRSTEN SANDBERG: I decided to go all out and get Vera Wang.
RENEE FERGUSON: The "something blue" for Kirsten Sandberg's wedding (were) bridesmaids' dresses from designer Vera Wang.
KIRSTEN SANDBERG: They're beautifully made, where if you're gonna go that route, you might as well do it right.
RENEE FERGUSON: But Sandberg says something wasn't right about the Vera Wang dresses her bridesmaids got at the Bridal Salon at Marshall Field's.
KIRSTEN SANDBERG: I chose Marshall Field's because of their reputation.
RENEE FERGUSON: What Sandberg didn't know (is that) Marshall Field's doesn't run the salon. It's actually leased by the same woman who runs Exclusives For The Bride. And that's not all that Sandberg and her bridesmaids say they didn't know.
RENEE FERGUSON: Did you think you were getting a Vera Wang dress?
KIRSTEN SANDBERG: I assumed so.
RENEE FERGUSON: "Assumed," Jeannie Burke says, that the $360 Vera Wang bridesmaid's dress she ordered would be the same as the sample she tried on. But, she says, it wasn't.
JEANNIE BURKE: The sample dresses we tried on had hanger straps, little satin hanger straps that said "Vera Wang." And these look like just white yarn. And, as you can see, there's no tag here that says "Vera Wang."
RENEE FERGUSON: Another bridesmaid's dress did have a label, but it was sewn in sideways -- unlike most Vera Wang designs.
JEANNIE BURKE: I'm wondering if we got ripped off. And I question if it really came from Vera Wang or if Marshall Field's put something together and sold it as if it was a Vera Wang.
RENEE FERGUSON: Vera Wang says no one else is authorized to make its dresses. (Demonstrating) But these internal salon documents, obtained by Unit 5, show fabric and zippers for Sandberg's dresses ordered from Vera Wang. Also on the form (were) these words: "Making Dresses." 
So we sent two of those blue bridesmaids' dresses to the president of Vera Wang in New York for authentication.
The process will take several days, but a source in the company who has seen the dresses told us, quote, "They certainly don't appear to be Vera Wang."
DAVID GAFFKE: We were making Vera Wang bridesmaids' gowns in the back in our alteration department.
RENEE FERGUSON: Former Bridal Salon sales manager David Gaffke says he sent fake Vera Wang dresses to a different bridal party. This time, the color was pale green.
DAVID GAFFKE: This was fraud ten times over. Because at least ten people knew about it.
ANDREA DILLON: How did you get this file?
RENEE FERGUSON: Unit 5 obtained that bride's file and showed it to former office manager Andrea Dillon. In the file (was) evidence the salon was searching for fabric to match a discontinued Vera Wang color.
ANDREA DILLON: This is my signature.
RENEE FERGUSON: (Indicating) Is that the fabric?
ANDREA DILLON: That's the infamous fabric.
RENEE FERGUSON: Dillon admits she ordered the fabric from another designer.
HEATHER PENA: The salon manager instructed me to go into this bad, old stock room and find old Vera Wang bridesmaids' dresses.
RENEE FERGUSON: Former sales associate Heather Pena says she cut Vera Wang labels from old sample dresses and gave them to salon seamstresses. Pena says the alterations department put the designer labels into salon-sewn dresses.
HEATHER PENA: They went to great lengths to pass off phonies as original.
RENEE FERGUSON: Fake designer dresses?
HEATHER PENA: Yes.
RENEE FERGUSON: One former salon employee sent a letter to the bride. She got her money back and signed a confidentiality agreement.
Salon owner Nancy Ghusein says the allegations come from disgruntled employees and that the salon doesn't allow bridesmaids' dresses to be made without the designer's and customer's approval.
In response to our investigation, Marshall Field's began its own. This statement (indicating) says, quote, "We are conducting an internal review dating back five years."
And Vera Wang says it has found Ghusein's company to be a trusted retailer but has (reading) "...decided to suspend acceptance of all new orders..." from Ghusein's company until they've "...completed an investigation."
DAVID GAFFKE: I would recommend that every bride and bridesmaid goes back to Marshall Field's and perhaps even Exclusives and check the authenticity of the gowns, for their own sake.
RENEE FERGUSON: Salon owner Nancy Ghusein says if dresses were sewn, employees did it on their own, and it would be a violation of company policy.
RENEE FERGUSON: Marshall Field's has a phone number for customers concerned about the bridal salon. That number -- (800) 443-8232. A company spokesperson said it is continuing an aggressive investigation.
Now, the full text of the statements from the salon owner, Vera Wang, and Marshall Field's is on the News page at NBC5.com.
Click here to read the full text of the statements.
RENEE FERGUSON: Mark and Allison, we'll keep you posted on what Vera Wang has to say about the authenticity of those blue dresses.
ALLISON ROSATI: What about the Vera Wang material and zippers, though, that you talked about in your report.
RENEE FERGUSON: Well, that's a really good question, Allison, and we don't really know the answer. We have asked Vera Wang. They say that they are looking to find out what's going on within their own organization...
ALLISON ROSATI: ...Because someone had to have sent it.
RENEE FERGUSON: That's right. Somebody sent it here. Good question.
ALLISON ROSATI: Thanks, Renee.
MARK SUPPELSA: Thanks.
Marshall Field's has a phone number for customers concerned about the following report: (800) 443-8232.
E-mail Renee Ferguson. Please include your name, phone number, and e-mail address.
RENEE FERGUSON: It's tradition. The bride wears something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. KIRSTEN SANDBERG: I decided to go all out and get Vera Wang.
RENEE FERGUSON: The "something blue" for Kirsten Sandberg's wedding (were) bridesmaids' dresses from designer Vera Wang.
KIRSTEN SANDBERG: They're beautifully made, where if you're gonna go that route, you might as well do it right.
RENEE FERGUSON: But Sandberg says something wasn't right about the Vera Wang dresses her bridesmaids got at the Bridal Salon at Marshall Field's.
KIRSTEN SANDBERG: I chose Marshall Field's because of their reputation.
RENEE FERGUSON: What Sandberg didn't know (is that) Marshall Field's doesn't run the salon. It's actually leased by the same woman who runs Exclusives For The Bride. And that's not all that Sandberg and her bridesmaids say they didn't know.
RENEE FERGUSON: Did you think you were getting a Vera Wang dress?
KIRSTEN SANDBERG: I assumed so.
RENEE FERGUSON: "Assumed," Jeannie Burke says, that the $360 Vera Wang bridesmaid's dress she ordered would be the same as the sample she tried on. But, she says, it wasn't.
JEANNIE BURKE: The sample dresses we tried on had hanger straps, little satin hanger straps that said "Vera Wang." And these look like just white yarn. And, as you can see, there's no tag here that says "Vera Wang."
RENEE FERGUSON: Another bridesmaid's dress did have a label, but it was sewn in sideways -- unlike most Vera Wang designs.
JEANNIE BURKE: I'm wondering if we got ripped off. And I question if it really came from Vera Wang or if Marshall Field's put something together and sold it as if it was a Vera Wang.
RENEE FERGUSON: Vera Wang says no one else is authorized to make its dresses. (Demonstrating) But these internal salon documents, obtained by Unit 5, show fabric and zippers for Sandberg's dresses ordered from Vera Wang. Also on the form (were) these words: "Making Dresses."
So we sent two of those blue bridesmaids' dresses to the president of Vera Wang in New York for authentication.
The process will take several days, but a source in the company who has seen the dresses told us, quote, "They certainly don't appear to be Vera Wang."
DAVID GAFFKE: We were making Vera Wang bridesmaids' gowns in the back in our alteration department.
RENEE FERGUSON: Former Bridal Salon sales manager David Gaffke says he sent fake Vera Wang dresses to a different bridal party. This time, the color was pale green.
DAVID GAFFKE: This was fraud ten times over. Because at least ten people knew about it.
ANDREA DILLON: How did you get this file?
RENEE FERGUSON: Unit 5 obtained that bride's file and showed it to former office manager Andrea Dillon. In the file (was) evidence the salon was searching for fabric to match a discontinued Vera Wang color.
ANDREA DILLON: This is my signature.
RENEE FERGUSON: (Indicating) Is that the fabric?
ANDREA DILLON: That's the infamous fabric.
RENEE FERGUSON: Dillon admits she ordered the fabric from another designer.
HEATHER PENA: The salon manager instructed me to go into this bad, old stock room and find old Vera Wang bridesmaids' dresses.
RENEE FERGUSON: Former sales associate Heather Pena says she cut Vera Wang labels from old sample dresses and gave them to salon seamstresses. Pena says the alterations department put the designer labels into salon-sewn dresses.
HEATHER PENA: They went to great lengths to pass off phonies as original.
RENEE FERGUSON: Fake designer dresses?
HEATHER PENA: Yes.
RENEE FERGUSON: One former salon employee sent a letter to the bride. She got her money back and signed a confidentiality agreement.
Salon owner Nancy Ghusein says the allegations come from disgruntled employees and that the salon doesn't allow bridesmaids' dresses to be made without the designer's and customer's approval.
In response to our investigation, Marshall Field's began its own. This statement (indicating) says, quote, "We are conducting an internal review dating back five years."
And Vera Wang says it has found Ghusein's company to be a trusted retailer but has (reading) "...decided to suspend acceptance of all new orders..." from Ghusein's company until they've "...completed an investigation."
DAVID GAFFKE: I would recommend that every bride and bridesmaid goes back to Marshall Field's and perhaps even Exclusives and check the authenticity of the gowns, for their own sake.
RENEE FERGUSON: Salon owner Nancy Ghusein says if dresses were sewn, employees did it on their own, and it would be a violation of company policy.
RENEE FERGUSON: Marshall Field's has a phone number for customers concerned about the bridal salon. That number -- (800) 443-8232. A company spokesperson said it is continuing an aggressive investigation.
Now, the full text of the statements from the salon owner, Vera Wang, and Marshall Field's is on the News page at NBC5.com.
Click here to read the full text of the statements.
RENEE FERGUSON: Mark and Allison, we'll keep you posted on what Vera Wang has to say about the authenticity of those blue dresses.
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