WHEN I HEARD ABOUT THE H&M / LANVIN COLLABORATION THIS SEASON I COULD ONLY ASSUME THAT THE LANVIN THEY WERE REFERRING TO WAS CARL LANVIN FROM WEST LA ... NO WAY THE REAL LANVIN WOULD BE DOWN FOR THIS.
I was wrong. You see, I have a love hate relationship with H&M. I love the feeling of walking into one of their stores and finding five cool pieces that I can work into my wardrobe, all under $100.00. Few retailers emulate the cuts and styles of our top designers the way H&M does, and no one does it at such a low price point the way they do. This is why H&M is so successful. What I hate on the other hand, is the fact that virtually all of their merchandise is made in China or a variety of other countries with limited labor laws. They are notoriously bad when it comes to social and environmental responsibility - even recently being caught throwing away unpurchased merchandise by the truck load as part of their corporate strategy to maintain brand image and not see homeless people walking around town in H&M t-shirts they bought from liquidators ... it was bad, they apologized and changed their policy, but it still says something about the core of the company. Aside from my little social justice rant, the truth about H&M is that they are best known for making disposable clothing. Their stuff is chic, fun, cool and made terribly. Expect to get one or maybe two seasons out of anything you buy there. It is because of this that I found it hard to believe that an icon like Lanvin, known for their high quality men's and women's sports wear and formal wear would agree to create product for this behemoth company.
Having recently received the electronic look book, I have to admit that I am impressed. The looks are fresh, fun, totally different than the typical slim fit everything we usually see at H&M and I have to believe that in order to put the Lanvin name on the product, certain quality control practices needed to be in place. I'm eager to get into an H&M to take a first hand look at the actual craftsmanship. While I hate the idea of disposable clothing, I might make an exception for this line in the hope that maybe H&M is finally taking a turn for the better. Some of the best looks from the men's line are below. For women's looks and more check out the site HERE.
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