A puffy look from the Comme des Garçons’s fall 2008
collection.Photo: Getty Images
The cold is sticking around like the dinner-party guest who just won’t leave, but we’re already looking forward to November, when Comme des Garçons launches a line for H&M. Yeah, we said it. In bold. The house, headed by Rei Kawakubo, will design a range of womenswear, menswear, childrenswear, and accessories and create a new unisex fragrance for the Swedish retailer. The avant-garde label seems like a surprising partner for H&M, whose past guest designers have included Karl Lagerfeld, Stella McCartney, and Roberto Cavalli. Who could forget the throngs of tweens from New Jersey salivating outside H&M at sunrise to get a first grab at Cavalli’s animal-printed stash? Are these girls going to go for Rei? Debatable; we suspect the CDG line will draw a more mature, fashion-savvy crowd (thankfully). So why did Kawakubo decide to collaborate with a company that makes affordable clothes? She tells British Vogue:
“I have always been interested in the balance between creation and business,” says Kawakubo of the collaboration. “It is a dilemma, although for me creation has always been the first priority. It is a fascinating challenge to work with H&M since it is a chance to take the dilemma to its extreme, and try to solve it.”
Oh Rei, you can totally master this mass-market thing. Yes, you’ll have to ditch the huge puffy sleeves and all that intricate ruffle detail we loved so from your fall line, but we’ll still be thrilled to have your designs against our skin. God bless H&M.
COMME DES GARCONS FOR H&M [British Vogue]
