NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Announcing a change of address for "upscale" designers' wares: Strike out New York's Fifth Avenue and Beverly Hills' Rodeo Drive, and pencil in every suburban mall across America.

Industry watchers say the strategy of targeting designer goods to discount stores could be a win-win situation for both the fashion industry and the discounters, given that chains such as Wal-Mart and Target have proven their value with consumers to become the true survivors of the recent downtrend.

"Retailers and designers both recognize the value of micro-marketing," said Jim Neal, director with Kurt Salomon Associates Strategy Practices, a retail and consumer products consultancy. "Designer names are product differentiation for the discount retailers, while designers get a legitimate vehicle to expose their brand to a much wider audience."

Beginning in August, the Isaac Mizrahi collection will have a showcase spot near the shampoos and detergents at discount chain Target (TGT: down $0.68 to $32.55, Research, Estimates).

In February, the trendy Bisou Bisou label (that's French for "little kiss") moved out of the upscale department store Bloomingdale's and into the discount retailer J.C. Penney (JCP: down $0.29 to $17.10, Research, Estimates).

Another prestigious label, Levi's, is expected to launch the Levi's Signature Strauss collection of jeans exclusively at the world's biggest retailer Wal-Mart (WMT: down $1.12 to $54.86, Research, Estimates) in mid-July.

"This will be the retail model of the future," said Tom Julian, fashion trend analyst with Fallon. "More and more designers are looking to multiple channels of distribution to make money."

"In the 1990s, the trend was for designers to offer a secondary collection for the middle market," Julian said, pointing to Donna Karan's more affordable DKNY label. "Now the brand extension of designer labels is heading the way of discount retailers like Wal-Mart and Target."

Retail analysts acknowledge that the emerging crop of "discount designers" is also indicative of the trouble facing department stores, which carry a broad swath of designer labels.

"Department stores always had to deal with being differentiated," said Neal. "The problem is that now many have become undifferentiated in their product offerings because all carry the same brands. So it's hard for any one single brand to stand out. Designers now recognize that consumers do cross-shop and they're looking for a good design, a good fit and also a good price.

Added Neal, "By coming to a discount chain, designers aren't really compromising on the brand, but will find a design and price challenge."

"We looked at the success of other designer brands with mass retailers and thought it was the right time for us to take our brand to J.C. Penney, " said Marc Bohbot, CEO of Bisou Bisou; his wife, Michele, is the chief designer and president of the company. "Consumers realize that mass market chains do have better prices and that's why they're popular."

"Bisou Bisou has a licensing agreement with Penney where we design the clothes and they produce them," said Bohbot. "It worked very well for us because now they're producing much more of our designs than we could have and the quality is good. We're in fact now the No. 1 selling brand in the company's women's apparel department."

Isaac Mizrahi was not immediately available for comment about his new Target line.

Target got a head start on its boutique of designer brands with a clothing and accessories collection by Mossimo launched two years ago, home accessories designed by Todd Oldham and Michael Graves, and a clothing line by designer Cynthia Rowley.

Meanwhile, J.C. Penney in February announced two concurrent deals -- one with Bisou Bisou and the other with celebrity model and designer Emme for a clothing collection that carries larger sizes.

"There are other similar opportunities that we're looking at," said Penney spokesman Tim Lyon, though he declined to offer any names. "We've looked at our assortment of stores and feel that there's a gap in the contemporary line of apparel for the fashion-conscious younger consumers. But so far, the Bisou Bisou decision has worked out very well for us."