Rei Kawakubo / Comme des Garcons for H&M Designer Collection

[educo]

I like the first jacket, but I don't know if it's worth waiting on line for..

 

[tweeds]

God, I really, really hope so!!!

More for us!

As long as I don't have to stand in line or wrestle for it....

fingers crossed...the more people say "god that fits so bad" the better!

the shirting looks great and the jackets are interesting. and i'll definitely be looking around the womens section as well.

 

[LagerfeldBoy]

it like it alot! especially the polka dot shirts and the jackets. and the menswear is really great too. only thing i dont like is that the dropped crotch pant which is wayy too low for my taste. maybe a bit not that long would be better. but whatever. defitanely liking it

 

[user500]

The womens line is better!
The mens line is rather boring somehow. The jackets are too conventional looking imo and missing a bit of the twist that i like from Comme. But i think it is intended to achieve that twist by mixing the pieces and colors.
The mens blue/grey/purple shirt and the dotted shorts are nice!

 

[luckyme]

OMG, I just found my coat for this season! now to figure out how to get my hands on it living in the land of no H&M's. Oh, to be urban and not mind crowds...

 

[Scott]

just fyi- it is NOT A DRESS...
it is a long coat...
and it is NOT supposed to be fitted like a corset...
that is supposed to be the illusion...
that is the whole point actually...



i think the average american is going to hate this...
...



yay!...

heheheB)

that definitely is an advantage as i said for the true fans.

unfortunately,some true fans are nowhere near an H&M store that may carry the line. bugger.

if h&m isn't going to open new stores in more accessible areas,they really need an online shop. they've been pretty ignorant about that i think.

 

[bearbrick]

haha haha guys and gals
lets face it........comme des garcons is no longer [ or was it ever....] the CDG of old ? .

its now a TROJAN HORSE for MASS brands - which incld LV - the latest being H&M to gain so credibility and edge ..... see my post in the LV collaboration with CDG ........but i do think CDG is losing it if it hasnt already lost it .......its one BIG MARKETING ENTITY NOW ...and all that PR AND HYPE about rei being uncompromising and doing non commercial stuff is just that HYPE and MARKETING............

please do not be fooled .

CDG by doing these collab is doing a roaring trade as a BIG source of revenue and its about $$$$$$$ ........now ....in other words ...i suspect REI is now cashing in on the CDG brand ......which is fine .....but i just think the way its being done is distasteful and mercenary ..........

the stuff in this HM collab is just blah ...... its just comme en mass with high prices ........so please stop waxing lyrical on it ....its fashion ...thats all and thats it....!!

someone please use the pin to prick the bubble......

thank you very much

 

[bearbrick]

marketing genius is not fashion

what i wanted to say in the post above is that Rei is reall a MASS COMM genius and so lets regrd her as one and not lump her in the same inner sanctum of real fashion artistes like YSL and Vivienne Westwood .........true fashion icons REAL and Geniuses not some manipulative PR strategist.

the other thig i wanted to say is that the H&M collab is for he opening of the Tokyo stores .....so its part of the marketing budget of H&M .......what better way to do a launch is there.........than to use this trojan horse ie CDG

nothing wrong with making $$$$ .its the way its done and how we perceivve it....call a spade a spade.........please.

 

[C. Bradshaw]

Really like the harempants from the women's line!!! and the men's line looks veryyyy good as well!

 

[Scott]

um...bearbrick....do you really believe that? have you not checked her main collections....at all?? i mean,wouldn't exactly call that aspect of her work,pure marketing ploys...because rarely are they ever tremendous commercial successes. in fact,YSL and Viv in an ironic twist to your logic have been and are the more successful in this department.

listen,i don't deny her unabashed interest in commerce,these days,whatsoever but lets not get into the complete degradation of her work and what a genuine creative she has been the last three decades...and still continues to be,imo.

 

[Scott]

and,btw,who is lumping her viv and ysl? i never heard anybody say anything to that degree. in fact,rei,does indeed,stand alone in my eyes. she is like no one and she will never be.

 

[bearbrick]

and,btw,who is lumping her viv and ysl? i never heard anybody say anything to that degree. in fact,rei,does indeed,stand alone in my eyes. she is like no one and she will never be.

heya scott

with ref to your earler post ....that i had degraded her work .........i dont think i wrote anything which remotely degraded her work ........if you meant the H&M stuff ...well.........its not exactly revolutionary nor groundreaking ....and i dont think its worth the money that is being mentioned ......

her usual stuff ...ie the CDG lead collection .....tend to be conceptual and quite honestly hardly wearable .........safe for some fashionn victims ......i think if you look carefullly at yohji and for that matter early issey you would find superior and infinately more creative ideas than rei.......

rei has her moments ..dont get me wrong ...she does .......

but a large part of her ¨success ¨....and enigma is her marketing .....from day one......

which is initself very clever indeed.

as for comparing with YSL and westwood........well..........if you dont think so thats cool......but she has been very much linked to chanel..........for being revolutionary etc .... i think .........BUT the fact remains .......when it comes to top fashion leaguers ..........its YSL and westwood ......and IMO ALAIA ..........and YOHJI and ISSEY . Rei K would not be in my top 10 top fashion leaguers... ........IMHO....let not confuse shock value with good fashion...

we have to be objective here ...........thats why i wrote in my post ...call a spade a spade.........

Rei K and CDG is 75% good marketing ......10 % luck and the rest talent......that IMHO is a good summary of CDG

 

[ms-nietzsche]

And YSL's handbags and shoes (which probably comprise a large majority of its sales) and Yohji's diffusion line with Adidas aren't marketing tactics at all.
Do you really think Vivienne Westwood would be that well known if it weren't for her association with the Sex Pistols?

For any "successful" designer, marketing and luck are huge aspects to their success.

 

[PrinceOfCats]

Rei K and CDG is 75% good marketing ......10 % luck and the rest talent......that IMHO is a good summary of CDG

In mine, it's daft. What does any of that mean? Rei's mainline collections are as strong as ever (allowing for taste) while several of her 'projects' have been interesting and worthwhile. DSM is the one clothes shop in London that always has something 'new'. Who cares if she makes some money with this crap on the side? To use your own points of comparison, YSL was happy to flog perfumes and cosmetics under his name while Vivienne Westwood hawks inumerable baubles and dubious diffusion lines. However, even your premise of comparing designers in order to draw up J17 style 'top tens' seems pretty pointless to me.


Does anyone know if H&M in Lyon will be carrying the collaboration or will I have to fly back to London/Paris?

 

[bearbrick]

And YSL's handbags and shoes (which probably comprise a large majority of its sales) and Yohji's diffusion line with Adidas aren't marketing tactics at all.
Do you really think Vivienne Westwood would be that well known if it weren't for her association with the Sex Pistols?

For any "successful" designer, marketing and luck are huge aspects to their success.

well thats exactly my point ! .......if you had bother to read what i have said carefully and digest what i had actually said.

marketing works hand in glove in this industry.
the quesstion is the degree of marketing......and lets not confuse marketing with collaborations/ or the dirty word of old .....franchises.ala gucci of olde....

YSL and Vivienne ...eg also has marketing who doesnt ...see lvmh etc....but we must differentiate betwn all that and the substance ..
...which i am and i think we are interested in......ie the substance and quality behind it ......

.....otherwise ...I can rip a few t shirts and patch it up in some vintage ala XULY BET and call it groundbreakking and iconic.....

i am saying bravo to rei K for being such a great marketeer and great that she has these comissioned deals to sustain her .......BUT i am also saying that when it comes to substance she is ...SO SO .........AND i am also saying that she is using her CLOUT as it were eg...i dont do childrens clotes and i am uncompromising ...etc etc ....as a marketing ploy ...so it creates an aura around her ..........

she is too shroud IMO and good and bully for her ......BUT JUST STOP adulating her and get caught up in that mystique persona she has created for herself ...ala anna wintour .....

i prefer genuine geniuses YSL and Vivienne ....eg ......

if you really want to compare Rei K .....with any desiger ...i would say she comes very close to Pierre Cardin ........but she does so in a more controlled way ........

prick the bubble .....please!!!

 

[bearbrick]

also.........when i say YSL i meant YSL pre Gucci ...........!! and i also know YOHJI does alot of collabs .........esp for the japan market....Ys for living etc ..and with puma etc mandarina etc for the world.......BUT he is still such a creative force and oriiginal designer .....one of the greats ...long with Issey.

dover street market as mentioned on the earlier post .........yes it is a good idea ....but its usually empty and the staff there are having more fun than the customers...how could they survive ?.....yet a another marketing ploy to reinforce the CDG brand IMO ......and now using other good designers to as trojan horses ...clever...i do think she is clever

 

[ms-nietzsche]

Oh I see what you mean. But don't you think whether or not her substance is so-so is a bit of a subjective matter?

 

[Scott]

^it is subjective. i honestly see no substance to your theory. it all seems to stem from a purely personal preference and not a real clear reason. i mean you continue to speak of viv and ysl but haven't they done the same thing? as PoC said,vivienne hawks perfumes,has a very inexpensive bridge line in anglomania and she too also does commercially oriented projects. lest you forget her NINE WEST endeavour??? i mean,if you want to slam rei for doing h&m,how about that place....it must be like wal-mart to you.

 

[bearbrick]

Oh I see what you mean. But don't you think whether or not her substance is so-so is a bit of a subjective matter?

well to an extent it is subjective ....nietzche but like i mentioned earlier ......would one put Xuly Bet in the same league as the great Christian Dior himself or for that matter Givenchy ? .....Rei is in the fashion business .........so was Tom Ford.subjectivity is like taste can sometimes ..oddly enough be determined ...........though this is a discussion that is not for us to go into here.i am merely saying Rei us a very good at marketing ......some would say her stuff may be good and some would say it may be bad ...the difference is she is a good marketing her goods which ever.........not unlike a LVMH ......thats all....

 

[ms-nietzsche]

well to an extent it is subjective ....nietzche but like i mentioned earlier ......would one put Xuly Bet in the same league as the great Christian Dior himself or for that matter Givenchy ? .....Rei is in the fashion business .........so was Tom Ford.subjectivity is like taste can sometimes ..oddly enough be determined ...........though this is a discussion that is not for us to go into here.i am merely saying Rei us a very good at marketing ......some would say her stuff may be good and some would say it may be bad ...the difference is she is a good marketing her goods which ever.........not unlike a LVMH ......thats all....

I don't think anyone is putting Rei in the same league as Christian Dior or Hubert de Givenchy. Fashion is a business, and anyone who is anyone in fashion is either extremely lucky or very good at marketing. From my understanding, your argument is that the other greats you mentioned (YSL, Westwood, Alaia, Yohji etc) have substance behind their marketing. IMO I think Rei does too. And honestly, people are much more likely to buy YSL, Westwood, Alaia and Yohji because of the brand name rather than Rei.