Yesterday H&M packed the entire Lanvin line into a showroom so editors could fondle and coo over the merchandise in person. We went to check it out because clothes never look the same in real life as they do in pictures. Also, when it goes up for sale on November 20, you’ll probably have to throw some elbows to get what you want in your size — this isn’t the sort of shopping that allows for relaxed comparisons, but necessitates serious hoarding and stealth examining of merchandise in empty corners where you’ll hopefully have a helper to protect your bounty from stealthy thieves. So you’ll want to know what to target in advance. But also, does the collaboration live up to the hype and photos?
Most pieces looked and felt like they were very well made, which is how H&M believes they should be since you’ll spend around $100 to $200 for each article of clothing, which is far higher than typical H&M prices. The faux furs were surprisingly quite soft — anyone in the market for a furry vest should consider the black one in the line, which has a little ribbon at the shoulder, and is actually flecked with some white, which doesn’t quite show through in the pictures.
The most stunning dress was the $249 floral one with sleeves; the ruffly pink dress and a piece in the same vein with the jellyfish sleeves were also terrific. The skirt with the gathered flappy ruffle is another great buy at $59.95, and comes with raw edges that give it, well, some edge. The $199 dark-purple one-shoulder pouf-sleeve dress, which is bound to sell out in a heartbeat, was a slight disappointment. The sample in the showroom was a little wrinkled, suggesting that after a dinner in this thing, you’d be walking out of the restaurant with wrinkle ass. The blazer was another great piece if you like the big sparkly buttons (if you don’t, it can’t be that hard to take them off and sew on something more subtle — but you know, effort). The $349 black coat was also lovely, and came with great raw edges that are hard to detect in pictures along with those same sparkly buttons. The trenches, which come in black and zebra print, weren’t tactilely quite as nice.
As for accessories, the shoes and shades are great, though the chunky jewelry left something to be desired and will need a good eye and some great styling to really look its best. Over in the men’s section, the neckwear was divine, while the shoes weren’t as shiny as we’d hoped. We also loved the navy-blue men’s coat, and, cat freaks that we are, the purple tiger-face T-shirt, which actually has fake green jewel embellishments as eyes. We could have happily walked out the door wearing the men’s sweatpants, which were soft and perfectly slouchy without looking sloppy. They were a nice antidote to all those party dresses.
See the line up close again in another video, this time of the look-book shoot.
