Versace for H&M – Launch Event in New York 2011 © H&M

Fashion Now: H&M’s Designer Collaborations // The First Ten Years

Until 10 years ago, having your wardrobe well-filled with designer clothes would break your bank. From 2004 on, it just meant breaking with your sleep habits, taking a day off and queuing for hours on a frozen November morning outside any major store of H&M, the Swedish mass retailer which has revolutionised the high-street fashion game. Until now, you could have a wardrobe stuffed with garments (beside accessories ‘n’ shoes) from Karl Lagerfeld, Jimmy Choo, Stella McCartney, Comme des Garçons, Sonia Rykiel, Versace, Maison Martin Margiela, Isabel Marant or, most recently, from Alexander Wang. Whereas about every brand from Target to Adidas regularly partners with high-end labels for mid-low-priced collections, no one has raised the high-low collaboration to quite the level of H&M – which could stand for hysteria and hype, the general public reaction when it comes to the eagerly anticipated release of these lines. Set to launch alongside the highly anticipated Alexander Wang x H&M collection on November 6, H&M celebrates 10 years of designer collaborations with a new book, aptly titled The First Ten Years. Spearheaded by Karl Lagerfeld’s one-off collection a decade ago, the coffee-table gem includes never-before-seen photography and contributions from each of its participating designers such as Victor & Rolf, Roberto Cavalli, Marni or Lanvin, along with profound information behind the distinctive collaborative collections. The First Ten Years represents a historical overview on a never-seen-before success story in fashion, encapsulated by Viktor and Rolf in 2006: “H&M is fashion at its most democratic.”