No.1 Mayhem at H&M: Lanvin for H&M + This Winter's Best Designer Collaborations - Women Compus - Women Campus

What do you get when you offer fabulous designer clothes at reasonable, even un-ignorable, prices?  Crowds of frenzied shoppers whose mania could rival that of any Bieber audience.   

Shoppers in line at 8AM for the Lanvin for H&M opening

High-end fashion designers have been making their designs affordable for budget fashionistas over the past few years through collaborations with fashion-savvy mass-market retailers such as Target, H&M and Topshop. November 20 marked the debut of the most successful designer collaboration to date: Lanvin for H&M. After a star-studded runway show, shoppers camped overnight in both New York and LA to get their hands on pieces from the collection, which featured looks straight from Lanvin’s Fall 2010 runway. Crowds were so insane at the release that H&M had to establish a system of colored wristbands to ensure shoppers, who were admitted in groups of twenty, stuck to their fifteen-minute time limit with the collection. Even within that short time, Women’s Wear Daily reported that individual shoppers dropped thousands of dollars on the collection, despite the fact that all the pieces are under $400.

Shoppers and their piles of purchases at Lanvin for H&M

 

It’s no surprise that H&M is the site of such fast-fashion craziness.  Since the success of the 2004 line by Chanel creative director and fashion heavyweight Karl Lagerfield, H&M has been the go-to store for too-good-to-be-true designer collaborations. Hosting at least one guest collection every year, H&M has featured lines from the likes of Stella McCartney, Comme des Garçons and Roberto Cavalli, and each collection seems to be more wildly popular than the next: the wristband system at Lanvin was developed as a response to the shoe-hungry mob that descended upon H&M at the opening of their Jimmy Choo collection last fall. Target and Topshop have similarly made an impact on budget consumers by introducing exclusive celebrity-designed lines multiple times a year. Target has collaborated with some of fashion’s biggest names, including Alexander McQueen, Anna Sui and Isaac Mizrahi. In the United Kingdom, Topshop’s designer collaborations are known for attracting hordes of shoppers who buy out the collection within minutes; and Kate Moss’s Topshop collections are so incredibly popular that the company has commissioned one every season since spring 2007. Even Forever 21 switched from mimicking designer looks to actually soliciting them with their Brian Lichtenberg collaboration.

Lanvin for H&M Promo September 2010

But the Lanvin for H&M release was particularly well-managed: the collection was announced in September, and H&M has been enticing anticipatory shoppers since with lookbooks and video sneak previews. By November 20, shoppers had had weeks to lust after Lanvin for H&M pieces and design their in-store plans of attack so they could walk away from the collection stylish and satisfied. And there’s no reason designer collaborations shouldn’t be so celebrated by producers and consumers alike: they yield extremely high revenue for retailers while boosting their luxury factor, give designers an opportunity to increase brand collateral among a large consumer base and provide shoppers with an attainable slice of high-fashion glamour. Most importantly, they’re extremely financially desirable in an economy that prevents many consumers from buying the expensive clothing they crave and that has been especially hard on luxury goods providers. In fact, Alber Elbaz, Lanvin’s creative director and the chief designer of the Lanvin for H&M line, cited keeping high fashion alive as one of reasons he agreed to the collection. “I realize more and more we need high fashion in order to have the high street,” he said. “It’s important to maintain both.”  He also recognized the fantasy factor in high fashion, both in the desire for it and the way one feels wearing it.  “It’s about creating a dream and giving it to people who couldn’t afford Lanvin,” he said.  “We thought it was a very relevant move.”

The bottom line?  Designer collaborations are the bomb. With that established, here are some incredible collaborations to shop right now and some advice on how to shop them.  The most important thing to remember when shopping capsule or collaboration collections is not to hold back on personality—go for the truly special pieces that you know you will never find anywhere else. Whether a show-stopper at your next formal event or a can’t-get-dressed-without closet staple, the clothes in designer collaborations, like Elbaz says, can truly be wardrobe dreams come true.