I don't think it's of importance to keep in mind the reason that Lanvin probably wanted to boost fragrance sales when teaming up with H&M for their collaboration or that it gave H&M a certain excitement that they would normally never manage to generate from selling generic clothing basics... I don't take those points into account when I look at the clothes based on a purely quality-informed level - Which is precisely what I have been trying to point out: That when seen entirely from a sober, construction, fabrics and finish-informed point of view, they did a fairly good job on the clothing, which was a huge improvement on the designer's collections that were previously made with H&M.
On the other side of the business, you can look at the quality from secondary lines manufactured by licensees such as Ittierre or .Sinv and you will know what I mean about bad quality marketed at a much higher pricepoint... So yes, getting back to the afore mentioned Lanvin collection, I found the tailored men's jackets (block-fused) were made of nice fabrics and finished better than, say, what Raf Simons' has made lately in countries such as Bosnia or whereever some of his mainline had been outsourced to, whereas the dresses were made of substantial silk gazar or technical taffettas not unlike those you would normally find in Lanvin's mainline clothing. The finishing on these was fine, down to the choice of zips and other accessories. I did notice the misstep in the footwear they made as well as the horrid plastic jewelry but among the entire line up of the range, there were a few great finds that were a really good deal far beyond the modest prices these were sold for. Production was also mostly done in Romania and not China - But even then, you have brands like Givenchy or Yohji that produce parts of their clothing in China and that doesn't even lead them to better price points...
Of course I don't see these collaborations as being the answer to ever rising high-end designers prices, but with high fashion informing a much larger audience than it used to maybe 30 years ago, it is safe to say there is a significantly larger interest and awareness in designer's fashion that probably didn't exist to that extend before. I think these collaborations are first and foremost aiming at a customer that would love to buy a piece of Lanvin, Stella McCartney or whoever else is the designer but cannot afford the prices of their main lines, except for when there is a clearance sale. The fact that these clothes were worn also by people in the industry (similarily to the successful Christopher Kane for Topshop range) shows that the clothes had style and decent enough quality to be worn with other high end designers.
On the other side of the business, you can look at the quality from secondary lines manufactured by licensees such as Ittierre or .Sinv and you will know what I mean about bad quality marketed at a much higher pricepoint... So yes, getting back to the afore mentioned Lanvin collection, I found the tailored men's jackets (block-fused) were made of nice fabrics and finished better than, say, what Raf Simons' has made lately in countries such as Bosnia or whereever some of his mainline had been outsourced to, whereas the dresses were made of substantial silk gazar or technical taffettas not unlike those you would normally find in Lanvin's mainline clothing. The finishing on these was fine, down to the choice of zips and other accessories. I did notice the misstep in the footwear they made as well as the horrid plastic jewelry but among the entire line up of the range, there were a few great finds that were a really good deal far beyond the modest prices these were sold for. Production was also mostly done in Romania and not China - But even then, you have brands like Givenchy or Yohji that produce parts of their clothing in China and that doesn't even lead them to better price points...
Of course I don't see these collaborations as being the answer to ever rising high-end designers prices, but with high fashion informing a much larger audience than it used to maybe 30 years ago, it is safe to say there is a significantly larger interest and awareness in designer's fashion that probably didn't exist to that extend before. I think these collaborations are first and foremost aiming at a customer that would love to buy a piece of Lanvin, Stella McCartney or whoever else is the designer but cannot afford the prices of their main lines, except for when there is a clearance sale. The fact that these clothes were worn also by people in the industry (similarily to the successful Christopher Kane for Topshop range) shows that the clothes had style and decent enough quality to be worn with other high end designers.
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