Designer [...]

[Barnhart]

_Designer_ has been kicking around dictionaries since 1980 when it
appeared in _The Second Barnhart Dictionary of New English_ (c. 1980).
The semantically-shifted usages were reported shortly thereafter, in
_The Barnhart Dictionary Companion_ (Vol. 5. 3-4, c. 1986).  The first
quote for _designer water_ there is 1980.  The first quote for
_designer gene_ there is also 1980.  _Designer drug_ first appeared in
BDC (Vol. 4.1-2, c. 1985).

The following, concerning _designer ... _, is from _The Barnhart
New-Words Concordance_ (c. 1994) (sorry if the lines didn't copy
exactly as in the print version):

designer (=made by a noted designer)    BDNE3;  Macq; ODNW; Bloom
             (=fashionable among Yuppies)       Macq; ODNW
             (=for a particular user)   ODNW
designer drug ........................................  DC Vol. 4.1-2;
BDNE3; Macq; ODNW; Bloom
designer food ........................................  ODNW
designer genes .......................................  DC Vol. 5.3-4
designer jeans .......................................  ODNW
designer knitware ...................................   ODNW
designer label .......................................  ODNW
designer scarf .......................................  ODNW
designer stubble .....................................  ODNW
designer water .......................................  DC Vol. 5.3-4;
ODNW