FASHION Magazine

Comme on

Posted on November 12, 2008

By Jennifer Campbell

Around here, we’re getting pretty jaded about these high/low designer collaborations. We’d never begrudge anyone their Abaeté for Payless pumps (least of all because we love them ourselves), but it’s starting to feel like enough. Don’t get us wrong, getting designer wear for mall prices is really excellent, it’s just not as exciting as it was in the olden days of 2004.

So jaded are we, that we’re not sure we’re even going to get in line for the Comme des Garçons for H&M collection (see hm.com for locations) that launches worldwide tomorrow. We’re as surprised as you are about this. Oversaturation aside, when the collaboration was announced in April, we thought this was pretty much the ultimate. Rei Kawakubo’s style is so high-concept, so out there, so not mass, that putting her to work with the Swedish mega-chain really makes this the apex of a mountain of designer/retail pairings. The only thing better would be to have Christopher Bailey personally collaborate with us on cleaning out our closet.

It is a pretty cool collection, and judging by the absolute freak-out at the line’s debut at the opening of the brand-new Harajuku store in Tokyo, H&M won’t need my help moving the Edwardian insane asylum duds (I mean this in a good way. A really good way). But will I regret missing out on the tuxedo tail coat (shown)? The deconstructed pleated skirt? The polka-dot sneakers? Yes.

Damn.

See you in line.

What do you think? Are you over designer collaborations, or are you eating it up? Tell us in the comments below.

Photography by Andreas Sjödin, courtesy of H&M.

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