After over seven months of waiting, the Comme des Garçons collection finally launched at H&M this morning. Crowds started lining up at 11 p.m. last night at the Fifth Avenue flagship, and more than 200 people had amassed when the doors flung open at 9 a.m. this morning — a full hour early to the delight of the rabid Comme fans salivating at the sea of polka dots before them. The showpiece $350 black ruffle dress was the first to sell out — that went in five minutes. Same for the polka-dot scarves. At 9:30 the out-of-breath stockboy guessed he had about twenty minutes left of clothes to replenish since they’re not staggering stock. Though the crowd had sharpened its claws for this morning’s dash, it was less ferocious than mobs that showed up to devour H&M’s previous designer-collaboration collections (practically the whole state of New Jersey showed up for the Roberto Cavalli launch). We’re guessing this was because of the purchase limit of two items per style. Still, shoppers remained swift, just quieter and more focused. They knew what they wanted (one shopper told us she looked at the look book every day for the past week) and dove for specific pieces. A shopper named Vicki budgeted only $1,000 for the collection. She seemed to be one of the few showing restraint — while moping at the cash register over the sold-out ruffled shirts, we peeked at the registers racking up sales from $200 to $3,000.
If you still want to try to get a piece of the collection, we have a feeling if you go right now, you’ll probably be able to buy the men’s navy dotted heather tees and the cotton button-up cardigans for women. But the shorts, harem pants, and blazers? eBay, friends.
We can’t believe after seven months of anticipation it was all over in just an hour. We feel a little sad. Next stop: Alexander McQueen for Target!
