simulacra of simulacra

William Gibson writes in "Pattern Recognition":

[the protagonist on the brand of Tommy Hilfiger]

"This stuff is simulacra of simulacra of simulacra. A diluted tincture of ralph lauren, who had himself diluted the glory days of Brooks Brothers, who themselves had stepped on the product of Jermyn Street and Savile Row, flavoring their ready-to-wear with liberal lashings of polo knit and regimental stripes. But Tommy surely is the null point, the black hole. there must be some Tommy Hilfiger event horizon, beyond which it is impossible to be more derivative, more removed from the source, more devoid of soul. Or so she hopes, and doesn't know, but suspects in her heart that this in fact is what accounts for his long ubiquity." (p17)