Kenzo X H&M and a Look At Past Collaborations over the Years

People eagerly anticipate the H&M collaborations every year, because the H&M collaborations give many people an opportunity to buy luxury brands at an affordable price. H&M has made a virtue of by “collaborating” with designers on limited-edition lines that look very much like the designer's main lines, but at a fraction of the cost. This year the collaboration with KENZO will be debuted internationally in more than 250 H&M stores and limited to sell on hm.com. on November 3.

H&M released a promotional video on the official website. They created a similar tropical rain forest as a background, and the plants are in different colors of leopard print. Bold colors and unique designs are the biggest characteristics of Kenzo, you can also find these characteristics from the video.

After watching the Kenzo x H&M runway show online on the Pier 36 in New York city on October 19th, in my opinion, this is the most difficult collaboration to wear in these 12 years, since 2004 H&M collaborated with Karl Lagerfeld. Before the formal launch of collaboration, there have many celebrities wearing the clothes already. Let's take a look at how some of these celebrities style these looks.

Here some looks hurt the eyes！

There some celebrities know “Less is more.“

If you think this collection is too difficult to wear, maybe the accessories are a better fit for you.

H&M collaborations have gone on for 12 years, and include 16 series.

2004: Karl Lagerfeld for H&M

Karl Lagerfeld was the first designer to collaborate with H&M. There were 30 pieces in the collaboration. He wore the collaboration clothes in the promotional commercials. All items were sold out in 25 minutes after launch. Even Karl Lagerfeld himself did not think the cooperation would sell so well. He also expressed “regret" to the people who couldn’t buy, because the purpose of the collaboration is that "everyone is able to wear Karl Lagerfeld”.

2005: Stella McCartney x H&M

H&M selected Stella McCartney to collaborate as the second designer series. Kate Moss was chosen as the star in the ads. There was hope that this series would sale as well, but it didn't copy the success of the Karl Lagerfeld series. Possibly, because Kate’s drug scandal broke out, H&M had to withdraw the advertising, and sales were affected.

2006: ViktorRolf x H&M

Dutch designers Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren, known for their delicate haute couture, were the first designers to launch a wedding dress collaboration with H&M. This series only sold 1000 units, each price was around $350. At such a cheap price to enjoy the haute couture design and quality, one could say it is one of the worthiest purchases of the series.

2007: Roberto Cavalli x H&M

Italian designer Roberto Cavalli, famous for his flamboyant design style, lunched the holiday attire series of collaboration with H&M in 2007. Many other H&M collaborated designers kept up with the trend of the street high fashion and designed some daily wear style, but Roberto Cavalli's collaboration series was mainly wild party dresses. This series was the most expensive of all H&M collaborations. The series was full of Roberto Cavalli’s signature elements: leopard, zebra, sequins...Although the price was more expensive,you could still be dressed up as a lady of quality with less money.

2008: Comme des Garcons x H&M

It was the first time for H&M to collaborate with an Asian designer. This choice was aimed at expanding the H&M Asian market. The Comme des Garcons series was mainly about polka-dot elements and were sold in Tokyo first, they sold well worldwide. It's worth mentioning that because of concise designs and the basic designs of this series, it created "the hot style” of H&M.

2009：Matthew Williamson x H&M

British designer Matthew Williamson, good at printing, launched a beautiful printing series with H&M in 2009. Flowery prints with thin materials was very attractive. Maybe Matthew Williamson was not famous enough at that time, the collaboration did not sell overnight, but even any every day person also would be attracted by the style and design.

2009：Jimmy Choo for H&M

Also in 2009, shoe designer Jimmy Choo launched a collaboration series with H&M. The series was mainly about shoes and accessories and the party style. It also included men's and women's clothing.

2009: Sonia Rykiel Lingerie x H&M

2010: Sonia Rykiel x H&M

Sonia Rykiel launched two collaborations with H&M. They were both an lingerie series in 2009 and clothing series in 2010. Sonia Rykiel is known as the Knit Queen, and the clothing collaboration gave priority with colorful knitwear.

2010: Lanvin x H&M

Lanvin was probably the most famous brand which collaborated with H&M. People were more willing to pay more attention to H&M collaborations once the Lanvin launch happened. That year, whether you were wearing a Lanvin for H&M ruffled dress or a necklace from the collection became a test of the standard of “fashion". The span of prices was the widest of H&M collaborations, which ranged from the $10 lipstick to $350 dresses and coats. The designer took care of all consumers. No matter which income level, as long as you were willing to line up, you really could buy a Lanvin for H&M.

2011：Versace for H&M

Versace x H&M greatly highlighted the Versace brand and designer's personal style. There were enthusiastic printings and ubiquitous rivets throughout the entire series. If you didn't look at the price, at first glance, you might think, “Isn’t this a Versace?”. Needless to say, sales of this series went very successful. They sold out in a week and sold all the goods on the internet for the second time. It created a new business format of collaboration.

2012：Versace Cruise x H&M

Perhaps because its sales were very successful in 2011, Versace and H&M collaborated again in 2012. Compared with the last series, the scale was smaller. It was mainly about fresh summer line and won more young consumers.

2012：Marni x H&M

Compared with Versace, another designer collaboration went a different style in 2012. Marni did not emphasize brand trademark design. The designer made a new attempt, and used unique prints. You couldn't find the usual expression of Marni. It sold well despite the change, and so it didn't matter with the designer. Playing something fresh also could be regarded as a kind of innovation.

2012：Maison Martin Margiela x H&M

2012 was a high yield year for H&M collaborations. In addition to Versace and Marni, H&M also chose Maison Martin Margiela. Before this series launched, people were curious about Maison Martin Margiel. It is a brand full of weird, alternative beauty, combined with the high street fashion. Down jackets showed the tone of the series: minimalist, low-key and irregular. These designs looked difficult to sell, but "the star effect” helped this collaboration become very hot.

2013: Isabel Marant pour H&M

The designer injected neutral and cool girl feeling in this collaboration which perfectly matched the high street fashion concept of H&M. The designers used classic design ideas and many French chic elements from its brand into this collaboration. The idea was full compliance with the initial orientation of H&M collaborations : “Every day people can wear luxury brand clothes”.

2014: Alexander Wang x H&M

This series was full of fashionable Wang specialty and cool styles. Before it was launched, many stars wore pieces from the series to promote the collaboration. The designer used mostly black, white, and grey. These low-key tone colors were used with style. They were similar with his young line “T by Alexander Wang.”

2015: Balmain x H&M

Even though it was a collaboration, the quality and craft were very well done. People could not help but wonder, “Is this produced by Balmain’s mainline?” Moreover, the menswear was fashionable and modern. The military uniforms were very handsome. The accessories were big and eye-catching in size with metal and very bright. A few velvet hand bags were quite brilliant too.