H&M goes luxury with Lanvin

When Swedish retail brand Hennes and Mauritz, better known as H&M, collaborated with one of fashion’s biggest names Comme des Garçons in 2008, it had hipsters in New York, London and Tokyo lining up for hours and camping outside H&M stores to covet pieces from the limited collection.

This November 2010, are you ready for H&M x Lanvin?

Lanvin’s creative director Alber Elbaz and menswear designer Lucas Ossendrijver have designed a collection that will be available two weeks from now in 200 H&M stores worldwide.

H&M’s creative director, Margareta van den Bosch comments, “Alber Elbaz is so extremely skilled; it’s so rare to work with someone who is so attentive and involved in everything. He is unconventional in the way he tries to find new solutions and he fights for his own vision.”

It was 2001 when Elbaz joined Lanvin and transformed it into the fashion powerhouse it is today. He revived Jeanne Lanvin’s legacy with his own fresh ideas, creating luxurious dresses highlighted with signature details of silk ribbons, bows, pleats, pearls, raw edges with exuberant colors and metallic embellishments.

More comfy chic in a T-shirt dress topped with a see-through jacket(right). Tomboy chic mixes the boy jacket with a girly skirt.

For his special project with H&M, Alber narrates: “H&M approached us to collaborate, and see if we could translate the dream we created at Lanvin to a wider audience, not just a dress for less. I have said in the past that I would never do a mass-market collection, but what intrigued me was the idea of H&M going luxury rather than Lanvin going public. This has been an exceptional exercise, where two companies at opposite poles can work together because we share the same philosophy of bringing joy and beauty to men and women around the world.”

The capsule collection will be first launched on Nov. 20 at H&M stores in US and Canada and Nov. 23 for the rest of the world.

The women’s collection is comprised of Alber’s signature short dresses with breathtaking cuts and lavish colors, highly tailored wool and faux-fur jackets, coats and vest.

Three T-shirts feature Alber’s illustrations stylized with tulle-collar, sequins and ribbons, while the ballerina three-tiered dress is embellished with several layers of red or gray tulle.

Shoes come with bejeweled heels and satin ribbons; playful accessories include embellished handbags, gloves, sunglasses, bracelets, necklaces, as well as lipsticks in different shades.

As for the men’s line, Lucas wanted to introduce basic new pieces that can be injected in every man’s wardrobe. The tuxedo ensemble is meant to be a daywear staple relaxed cut and paired with tailored jogging pants trimmed with grosgrain.

The ribbed and relaxed drawstring tuxedo pants with elastic pleated bands are must-haves from the collection. Another is the dress shirt with bib pin-tuck detailing, which can be worn from daytime to nighttime.

Separates like the cropped three-button blazer, finely knitted cardigans, and zip-front hoodies are essentials for casual-to-dressy looks.

A double-breasted jacket and trench coat, shocking metallic shoes, sequined ties, plus the oversized bowtie in a variety of colors complete the signature Lanvin look.

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To know more visit http://www.hm.com.