Karl Lagerfeld For H&m

[Deleted member 7575]

Both east end and diorella look amazing in the clothes.


I would say Karl did right.

 

[smashinfashion]

Originally posted by brian@Nov 12 2004, 03:01 PM
ditto.
no h&m in texas, either.

[snapback]428938[/snapback]​

arghh none here either i cant stand it!!

 

[jennifer~]

Originally posted by SCBlondie@Nov 12 2004, 04:50 PM
I wish I lived near an H&M.

[snapback]429263[/snapback]​

Same...

I can hardly stand to hear about everyone's purchases

 

[fullfrontal]

Originally posted by modelmama@Nov 12 2004, 03:12 PM
Just got back from the H&M in Soho near Spring (NYC)

I appreciate the exclusivity of his main lines (Chanel, Lagerfeld, Fendi...) and did not want every Jane, Julie and Bobby Sue knowing that my look was from KL for H&M .
It was just too common for my personal taste.

Be true to yourself- follow your own beat!!!!

[snapback]428958[/snapback]​

I agree ModelMama, NY is going to look like one big Lagerfeld for H&M ad next week. But I do want the black high collared tux shirt. I didn't like the with Lagerfeld for H&M patch on the back on the jeans so I didn't even bother.

I didn't go to H&M until late and stumbled into the 34th St store which had the collection right in front of the doors as you walked in. They only had sizes 8 and up, so I'll have to run around town tomorrow to try what I want.

Also, the mens cardigan with the zipper was nice. I saw it here in brown with red.

 

[AlexN]

Originally posted by Mutterlein@Nov 12 2004, 08:21 PM
Both east end and diorella look amazing in the clothes.

[snapback]429474[/snapback]​

Seriously, beautiful girls...

The clothes don't look bad, either.

 

[foxinthesnow]

I went and picked some things up. Granted, I really like Lagerfeld Gallery. The pieces were surprisingly well cut for H & M (at least the ones I got- there were ones I could just tell were NOT winners). I didn't try them on and tried them just now and they're great.

They were the first things I ever bought in H & M- maybe I'll go back... When I'm at work and spill coffee on a white shirt or am poorly dressed for an unexpected event.... But that's about it.

 

[tangerine]

The NY Times report:

Damp and Pushy, but What a Reward: $99 Designer Frock

By Ruth La Ferla

Published: November 13, 2004

Barbara Alper for The New York Times
After many waited in the rain, shoppers jammed the H&M store on Fifth Avenue for clothes by Karl Lagerfeld, who designs for Chanel.
----------------
In a giant H&M billboard at 31st Street and 10th Avenue in Manhattan, Karl Lagerfeld looms like a stern Inquisitor, wearing a black frock coat, white collar, dark glasses and an expression so dour it seems to hard to avoid asking: Would you buy a suit from this man?

For hundreds of shoppers storming H&M's New York flagship on Fifth Avenue Friday, angling for a piece of Mr. Lagerfeld's cheap chic on the day the chain, the Swedish-based mass retailer, introduced a line of his clothes in its stores, the answer was: You bet.

"This is like a rock concert," said Hugo Chung, 28, a graduate student at New York University, just before diving toward the main floor racks, which were clotted with bargains for men and women: $59 for narrow black wool trousers, $99 for a silk cocktail dress, $129 for a black sequined wool dinner jacket. Those prices are less than the sales tax on one of Mr. Lagerfeld's $4,000 suits for Chanel.

Some shoppers waited in the rain for an hour before the store opened at 9 a.m., eager to snap up the fruits of the first collaboration between Hennes & Mauritz, based in Stockholm, and a high-profile fashion designer. The line includes accessories, a fragrance and 30 items of clothing, most of them in black and white.

The collection is available at 19 of the 75 H&M stores in the United States and at half of its 1,000 stores in 20 other countries. The line sold out within hours at most of the European stores, H&M said.

In Milan, the store at the Piazza San Babila was mobbed, Bloomberg News reported, with customers elbowing others aside as they grabbed dresses off racks even before they reached the sales floor. "It looks like rugby without rules," a bystander told a reporter for the news service.

Here in New York, where 1,000 people shopped the store at Fifth Avenue and 51st Street in the first hour, most of the stock was gone by closing time, a spokeswoman said last night, and the store hoped to get an additional shipment by this morning.

Sales of the collection far exceeded projections, said Sanna Lindberg, the president for United States operations.

Clutching a black sequined dinner jacket and tuxedo shirt, Heather Sopczynski, 35, who works in marketing at Revlon, seemed barely able to take in her good fortune. "This is like getting a little piece of Chanel," she said.

Her friend, Antonette Bivona, 35, a product developer for Revlon, chimed in, "Talk about star power - this is just like Target."

She was referring to the similar mass-meets-class collaboration between the Target discount chain and the designer Isaac Mizrahi.

H&M's venture with Mr. Lagerfeld, who designs for Chanel in Paris and Fendi in Milan, is part of its plan to perk up profits, which rose last year at the slowest pace in three years.

"The company is jumping on a very popular bandwagon of borrowing interest from other successful names in the luxury business," said Candace Corlett, a partner at WSL Strategic Retail, a New York consulting firm. Consumers may be responding, Ms. Corlett suggested, because "they are feeling the trickle-down of affluence." Alliances between famous designers and mass market retailers, she added, "give shoppers the chance to buy their own small piece of a status brand."

H&M is also seeking to broaden its customer base. "We want to bring in people who had not shopped at H&M before," said Jennifer Uglialoro, a spokeswoman for the company in New York.

Debbiehana Yi, 25, is the sort of customer the company has in mind. As she scoured the store Friday morning, sweeping up as much as she could hold, Ms. Yi said: "I'm not trying anything on. I don't even know my size yet. I've never shopped at H&M."

Ms. Yi, a project associate for a public health program in New York, was making her way to the register with $2,000 of clothing, most of it Lagerfeld. "I'm buying for everyone I know," she said. "It's my way of saying Merry Christmas."

H&M declined to project sales or disclose what it had paid Mr. Lagerfeld. However, in a climate of retail consolidation, retail experts say that even the most exalted names in fashion would be unlikely to turn up their noses at similar collaborations, once considered risky for luxury designers.

"More and more power is going into fewer retailers' hands," said Will Ander, a senior partner at McMillan Doolittle, a retail consulting firm in Chicago. "Designers are no longer calling the shots at department stores the way they did a few years ago.

"That in part is what is causing them to come to discounters," Mr. Ander added. "When they see their distribution channels controlled by five, six or seven players, they are probably telling themselves, 'I'd better get on this bandwagon, get with the winners, and get the volume.' "

In an interview, published in June, Mr. Lagerfeld explained his reasons for going well outside haute couture to aim at bargain shoppers. "I was always quite fascinated by H&M because people who buy Chanel and other expensive things buy there, too," he said. "For me, this is fashion today."

Ari L. Kopelman, the president of Chanel at the time Mr. Lagerfeld discussed his plans, said that he had no objections. "We're 101 percent fine with the idea," he said in June. "It's a decision that only Karl can make."

H&M is expected to build on its collaboration with Mr. Lagerfeld. The company's managers plan to meet on Monday to discuss future plans for the Lagerfeld line, which was first announced as a one-time collection. On Friday, Ms. Lindberg hinted that there may be a second season of Mr. Lagerfeld's wares.

"We want always to continue to surprise our customers," she said. "If it will be him or some other surprise, I cannot tell."

"Personally," she added, "I could see Tom Ford," the former designer for Gucci. "Dolce & Gabbana would be interesting maybe. But that's really a dream."

 

[lmichele]

i got the tuxedo shirt and the black pleated skirt.. classics, and didnt have the name "Karl Lagerfield for H&M" plastered all over it. lucky (for once) that im not back home in new york...i got there an hour after store opening (in cambridge, MA) and they still had all the sizes in everything.

was i the only one who found the black (womens) pants a little disappointing? The stiching on the bottom is asking to either a) be tailored (good considering most people are not tall enough to wear them without it!) or B) come undone. it felt too cheap for the rest of the pants.

anyways... to the girls who posted pictures...you guys looked awesome! i loved that black pleated shirt, but the 4 was way too big for me unfortunately

my only gripe with the blazer was the cheesy writing on the buttons (details, details, i know...)

 

[billabong]

So are there even jeans (womens?)??? Why in my H&M didn't have jeans..strange...

 

[utopia]

great pictures eastend and diorella I got the blouse too, and I had the same problem with sizing, but it's absolutely adorable nonetheless. if it looks half as good on me as it did on you I'll be doing good! definitely very reminiscent of chanel imo.

still amazed by the response elsewhere to this collection. where I was, it just didn't seem like such a big deal... I guess I'll really find out next week when I start seeing people walking about town in pieces from the collection...just hoping it won't be too many people.

 

[EdK]

saw the collection for men at the Michigan Ave store, the mens stuff is pretty much crap. The womens section for Karl was about 3-4 times bigger.

 

[Hanne]

I had my hands on the blouse that Diorella got..and seeing how nice it looked on her made me wish I had taken the time to try it on...but I guess I just wasn't in the right mood when I visited H&M..kinda afraid that the whole frenzy of getting a piece of Karl for H&M would make me think irrational...and sideline the issue of wether I would actually wear the stuff once I bought it.

 

[macchiom]

I went to take a look at it today and there were still a lot left.

I primarily focused on the selection for men and to be honest it was pretty bad. The cut of the blazers were okay but the fabric used felt and looked really cheap. The pants and jeans were pretty slim cut but the fit was bad anyway and the quality seemed to be on par with regular H&M.

The shirts were cut big and again quality seemed to be lacking, but the turtleneck and cardigan was actually fairly nice and good value for money at the price.

The accessories looked cheap and I was a bit disappointed by the bag, but at the price you probably can’t expect more.

The coat was probably the best item in the collection, the fit was okay and I didn’t notice any mayor flaws. I don’t think I’ll ever pay €170+ for a H&M item though!

The t-shirt with Karl is hilarious by the way. If it wasn’t for the fact that there were tons of them, I probably would have bought one as a joke.

I only looked briefly at the womens collections and some of the dresses looked quite nice. I don’t know about the quality but it would be great if it can turn more young women into wearing dresses from time to time instead of jeans all the time.

 

[EdK]

eastendsnob you are just SMOKING!(like the MASK would say) wear that blazer and skirt just the way they are in the pics, they look fantastic on you.

 

[sofialuv]

Can someone please discribe me the fit of the jeans?
Thanks!

 

[Acid]

the jeans are ok.........theyre just like the rest of my jeans except not as wide at the bottom

i wouldnt say these are anything exceptional

 

[pradaromance]

Ms Diorella....FAB! you look amazing...you are too beautiful!

 

[softgrey]

thanks for posting the article tangerine...

if karl does a second season...it will seriously de-value the items from this collection...which, as mentioned was only supposed to be a one off...

that was a huge incentive for many people to buy ....as the pieces would be rather valuable if this was the case...

as much as i like the pieces i bought...part of the appeal is the exclusivity ...
i think this is not a good strategy...they should absolutely try to go forward with a different designer...imho...

tom ford would be a dream for them...could you imagine the hysteria if ford did h&m?...


lmichelle...no you are not the only one...the pants were absolutey awful...and where i was, no one bought them... i don't think anyone here has bought them either...

 

[Erzébeth]

question about karl:

did he start doing skinny suits before hedi or did he only do them after hedi?

 

[softgrey]

he has never done menswear before really...and he has said that the reason he lost all the weight a few years back was in order to wear hedi's designs...

but he has always designed slim suits like this for women in his own collection...

so the answer is sort of ...both...