When High Fashion Meets High Street

This is my post from way back in November, did it for a school assignments. Enjoy!


When High Fashion Meets High Street

About two weeks ago, quite possibly the most anticipated designer capsule collection ever, Isabel Marant pour H&M, hit the stores as well as online—and everyone and her friend and her sister went on a shopping frenzy. I heard all these hoopla about people lining in front of the stores at 4 am, brawls over coats and fringed booties, crashed websites, and paid items get refunded due to over-demands (enraging the so-called crazed shoppers even more). Living so far away from the States (where all the retail-mania took place) does not necessarily mean I can escape the madness as well.

These days, more and more people become aware of designer-high street collaborations. Since Karl Lagerfeld’s first foray into the ‘still-unknown-territory’ back in 2004 with H&M, fashion world has been colored by hysteria-inducing collections of fashion powerhouses like Versace, Jimmy Choo, Mulberry, and Lanvin in value-based stores like Target, H&M, and Macy. These collaborations might be just the answer to every girl’s prayer. Those who can’t afford luxurious high-end purchases all the time (including moi), can now inject a little bit of the runway scene to their clothes—with a very affordable price. When you don’t have to drop $1000 for a Stella McCartney jacket or a Lanvin dress, this intoxicating mix proved to be too hard to resist, hence all the stampede-at-the-tills mania surrounding it. Thus, when the news of H&M releasing a collection by the talented Isabel Marant, you can bet your pretty little derrière, all those women come running.

I’ll admit I am not her biggest fan. If you ever wondered how wedge-heel high tops—truly revolting and should be banished from earth, but that’s just me—went mainstream, look no further than Mademoiselle Marant. She is most famously known from the Bekett, said wedge-heel trainers—which was the toast of the sartorial town for a while, sported by A-listers like Beyonce and Miranda Kerr, before adopted by other designers and cloned by high-street labels everywhere.

Yet footwear faux-pas aside (in my opinion that is, although I notice almost everyone that side of the fashion world disagree), I certainly see the appeal of Marant’s aesthetics, which is Parisian chic in a nutshell—the equivalent of a sartorial bedhead. Her designs are the epitome of boho slouch chic, down-to-earth yet sexy. Her usual offerings of cropped skinny leather trousers, peasant blouse, boho-chic embroidered jacket and fringe boots are wearable and look good with little effort.

These looks translated flawlessly into her Isabel Marant pour H&M collections. Typically beautiful, it comprises all Marant’s staple designs. She has a fantastic eye for details, translated in a gorgeous ethnic beaded shrunken jacket that is clearly a Marant classic. Bold colors and striking prints are ever present in form of knits and patterned wool jacket—balancing the slightly futuristic colors of the accessories. My wanted-list includes the aforementioned beaded jacket, a wear-with-everything printed dress , and the black ‘loop’ wool jacket.

I am not holding my breath though, since these pieces will be (and probably have been) snatched in matters of second and this is as close as I can get to them—that, and the fact that usually these designers discriminate on size (strictly zero, two, four, maybe six or eight if we are lucky; 10 is truly pushing it).

Yes, the collection is undeniably chic and infused with enough easiness and attitude a la Marant that we all have known and loved. Yet, I am left perturbed by the jaw-dropping price. Considering the 3-figure-price tag, it is certainly way out of H&M’s usual shoppers’ budget. Paying 200 euros for a pair of cropped leather pants seem to defies the whole concept of fashion democracy in high street collaboration—when anyone, from fashion elites to a seventeen-year-old students with a part time job, can get their hands on a slice of designer’s action.

Another problem : the clothes are exclusive no more when everyone seems to know where you got your beaded jacket and how much you paid for it. All the eye-catching ensembles are now featured on every fashion blog there is (note: they’ll soon make it to the pages of shitbloggerswear.tumblr.com--a list of my no-no if there ever is one). Not to mention those countless resales on Ebay. My excitement quickly dwindled down to almost zero.

So the verdict? Isabel Marant pour H&M is a collection worthy to feast my eye on, but not enough to dig a hole on my wallet. I will just now sit tight and enjoy the festivities while they last. Soon there will be another designer collaboration on the horizon (say hello to Meadham Kirchhoff for Topshop!) for me to gush over and be done with; but who knows? I might succumb to the hysteria and add a piece of fashion history to my wardrobe.