Now that the first Versace for H&M Collection is out the door, one can take a more distanced look at how this all went down. It is definitely interesting to watch these things unfold. The Versace line is one out of many H&M collaborations over the last years and it is an interesting one. H&M gets to associate itself with high fashion and the high fashion brand gets a quick mass market introduction for a short period of time, thus resulting in a massive PR effect for them.
Personally we were very excited about the Lanvin collaboration and about the Comme des Garcons collaboration. While Lanvin certainly had some solid pieces for men, that were both interesting and wearable, the CdG line was for us a disappointment. We can also not imagine that it performed very well outside of Japan (an assumption). Viktor & Rolf was not too bad either, but maybe they were still too small in the high fashion market to even matter in the mass market. The line was not bad though. Now Versace certainly needed a big PR push, as the brand has been a little forgotten since its high times in the 80s and early 90s. Sometimes one had the feeling they were coming back, but they never quite made it.
The Versace for H&M Collection is surprisingly good. As usual it is stronger for women, but even for men there are some very good pieces. Even though we like in general a more subtle look, we can appreciate the most the loud pieces of the collaborative collection, because who needs Versace for H&M for a simple black sweater. The biker jacket and especially the bomber jacket are the hits of the mens line. Now you just have to be able to actually wear these pieces.
Read the rest of the article after the jump.
