I got up at an ungodly hour on the morning of the 20th all in the name of Lanvin. To make matters worse, it was raining, and what was I wearing? A thin leather hoodie, short boots, and I was toting a janky umbrella. Good job! The ONE DAY it rains in southern California, I decide to trek it to my local H&M and wait in line for hours on end for this collection. The good news is that the bf kindly waited with me so I wouldn't have to brave the rain alone and so that I'd have an extra pair of hands. Now that's an amazing man! Not only that, but I dragged the poor boy to Smallgift L.A. the day before to check out Sanrio's 50th Anniversary celebration at Barker Hangar in SaMo. Now that's a keeper!
Bf and I arrived at around 5:50AM with about 100-120 people in front of us. Word is that the first person in line arrived at 5pm (!!) the night before. At around 7am, the sweet H&Mers and concierge at Americana went down the line and handed out coffee, pastries, and free valet until the end of the year. Not too shabby. 20 minutes later, we were given our wristbands with our designated timeslot. Each group of 20 was given a colored wristband, which also indicated the 15 minute interval during which they could shop the collection. We got grouped into the 9:45-10AM timeslot. At around 7:30AM, H&M girls clad in happy Lanvin for H&M tees handed out little giftbags which included the winter H&M mag along with a 100% wool Lanvin for H&M scarf. Now that's a nice touch. I grabbed both mine and bf's scarves and wrapped them around my neck. Whoever said California had lovely weather year round has clearly never woken up early to stand in line, in the friggin' rain, for some sparkly, designer goodies.
H&M security was tight, and very organized. I was definitely impressed with the way things were handled. The back section of the store was roped off for the collection, and they ushered us inside at about 8am to wait. As soon as we got the okay to go inside, it was a mad dash up to the men's section. There was no wait to shop it, and within minutes, it was demolished. H&M employees were hard at work moving in new displays of regular merchandise, and at 20 minutes past 8, you would've never known they carried the men's collection. Totally wiped out. Finito. None left to grab.
While in line, I surveyed the cashwrap and noticed the Lanvin for H&M totes especially designed for UNICEF. I snuck out of line, casually went over to the cashwrap, and discreetly asked for two. By the time I was back in line, I was getting stares, whispers, and finger pointing. These were definitely a group of people who were interested in buying whatever they could get their hands on that had the Lanvin for H&M label on it. It's easy to get into that kind of mentality when you're sleep deprived and in fear that you'll score next to nothing on your wishlist, so you'd pretty much settle for anything. I was keeping my hope alive though. I had one mission: to score two tees, the long fur coat, sunglasses, the turqouise heels, and some lipstick. I was not about to get derailed by a men's bowtie I'd never wear, or a $200 dress with questionable quality. Don't get me wrong, they were beautiful, but just not worth the $200, because at the end of the day, it was still just H&M, and H&M quality. However, at $3.95 a pop, and with 30% going to UNICEF, I couldn't say no to these super adorable, albeit thin, flimsy, totes. Neither could anyone else in line, because within minutes of me returning with the totes, they were all gone. Surprise, surprise.
Fast forward nearly two hours later, and I was finally right outside the roped shopping area. Right as we're about to be let in, the head of security blasts through her loudspeaker that this was all of the collection that was left, and that they wouldn't be replenishing stock. The hipsters behind me in their A Wang tees and bags start to claw to the front of the line. I look over at the bf in horror. This is definitely not my scene, and a little girl like me is not equipped for such madness! After we get the okay from security, bf and I head in. It's such a small shopping area, and 20 people in such a confined space starts making me feel claustrophobic. Bf is calm as a cucumber though, and starts scouring the clothes for my tees. The sunglasses, lipsticks, and shoes were all wiped out. No fur coats either. The first thing I grab are both the tees I originally had my eye on -- the legs t-shirt dress and the tee with three girls. I manage to get my size in the short tee, but I have to settle for a size up in the legs tee dress. The hipsters (note that these are men) manage to grab two, short fur coats out of the hands of an employee who's doing go-backs. Darnit. After fifteen minutes of scurrying (delayed momentarily by a minor freakout on my end because of the vultures who are grabbing and pushing for these clothes like they're free), I head to the dressing room. I managed to grab both tees, along with the embellished blazer (which I wasn't planning on purchasing originally, but it's just so darn pretty in real person), and a pair of patent red pumps. I knew the dressing room was the place to score go-backs, so I headed there in search of the elusive fur coat. While in there, I was admiring the one shoulder, pink dress with exaggerated shoulder, but as soon as I touched it, I had to recoil. It straight up felt like a dyed potato sack. A quick peek inside the garment label -- what do ya know, 100% polyester. These were selling like hotcakes though. Even if you managed to snag a couple of these exclusive dresses, the joke's on you for paying $200 bucks a piece for 100% polyester wares. Seriously though, they're pretty, but they don't feel it. Big disappointment.
While in the dressing room, I did manage to snag the short fur coat in a size too big, but once I got over my initial excitement and tried it on, I realized I looked like Chewbacca had swallowed me whole. Seriously ridiculous. I had to pass. I also had to pass on the heels because damn, they hurt. They HURT. I have been known to sacrifice comfort over beauty for a pair of pretty, sparkly shoes, but these were just unbearable.
So what's in the bag? Two tees, the embellished blazer, and two UNICEF totes. Sadly, I couldn't score the elusive sunglasses, long fur coat, or the lipsticks. I'm keeping hope alive though, and hitting up this H&M for any possible returns! This was my strategy last year for Jimmy Choo x H&M, when I skipped the launch all together and chanced upon a pair of those coveted leather leggings, and at 60% off. Score. All in all, I'm a happy girl and I'm very impressed by the quality of the tees and the blazer. They're probably some of the best out of the collection, quality wise. The details are incredible. I also love the shopping bags that came with this collection. Really adorable. I was really pretty heartbroken that I couldn't score a garment bag though. I guess those are only reserved for the dresses.
So there you have it, my long-winded, retelling of the organized chaos that was this H&M launch. I have to give major props to H&M for having such an organized, orderly method of helping people shop. All in all, I'm pretty satisfied!
Now to the goods!
Pretty, no?
ETA: Just read an article on WWD about Alber Elbaz's secret visit to the H&M flapship store on Madison in NY. He pulled up in his towncar around 8am and watched the madness go down and marveled at how many people had showed up. How adorable is that?
