Comme des Garcons - H&M

[Faust]

:) i can understand that you hate it, but well, i am a student and on the page the items i listed don't look that bad and the price is also ok, so why not

I understand. I dabble in reselling too. What rubs me the wrong way a bit is that when people hype shit up and that pounce on it in order to make money (be it any HM collab, or I am not a plastic bag bag). However, I used to work for minimum wage when I was a poor student, and if I could make in an hour what I used to make in a day doing stupid shit, I would too.

[Faust]

Traditionally, egos are equated with penises. Balls are more the designated repository for chutzpah. I concede that Karl might have a bigger penis.

You are correct as usual. Why are you so smart?!

[electric_alyce]

Fun thing, I walked into an H&M yesterday, and I thought I saw one of the pieces from CdG and I was really puzzled by this, since it's nowhere near release date. But no, it wasn't Comme, it was just a normal Divided-garments, it was the two-face-ish, one-side-black one-side-white/grey sweater. They had it both in a clean-cut sweater and an asymetric (the same way the CdG one is) cardigan. It's really wierd they would launch something so similar so close by, and abit silly to get inspired by their own collab (not complaining though, I got a really nice cardigan for killer price)

[Silver]

No. Rei thinks she is the new Andy Warhol. Or at least the Andy Warhol of fashion. Which she probably is.

Cant help but be disappointed with this whole collaboration thing ....

Andy Warhol became an arrogant, overrated and overly commercialized fool later in his career .. lets hope the same doesn't happen CDG.

[Faust]

Too late, Silver, too late.

[Silver]

Too late, Silver, too late.

True!!!

[Fade to Black]

Andy Warhol became an arrogant, overrated and overly commercialized fool later in his career .. lets hope the same doesn't happen CDG.

really? damn say it ain't so...i am not at all familiar with the story of Andy Warhol. Just from a brief reading of his memoir yesterday and some random facts here and there I have always held him in high regard, not so much as an artist but as a shrewd and (intentionally?) brilliant self promoting one man enterprise.

[reborn]

really? damn say it ain't so...i am not at all familiar with the story of Andy Warhol. Just from a brief reading of his memoir yesterday and some random facts here and there I have always held him in high regard, not so much as an artist but as a shrewd and (intentionally?) brilliant self promoting one man enterprise.

Bingo!

Still, I like his art...and I still like CdG.

[Faust]

As long as you are aware of what you like ;-)

[Silver]

The collaboration was talked about on a appalling trash breakfast tv show here in the UK the other morning in it's 'fashion' section with Lorraine Kelly....



The final nail in the coffin for me!!!!

[Fade to Black]

lets hope the same doesn't happen CDG.

btw i meant to comment on this part earlier but didn't...

i am afraid that this scenario has already happened...today on the streets I spotted a gentleman of a particularly unassuming dress sense that is the equivalent of 'urban camo' in a concrete jungle like Hong Kong...polo, jeans, sneakers, worn without any particular flair or personality. The one thing that stood out most in his whole ensemble, and why I noticed him out of a large crowd of similarly dressed people, was the big green CdG Play heart symbol located on his chest.

I admire the 'design' lines of CdG, but this one example, out of many i've seen all over the place, shows that CdG is now a brand of 'cool' that anyone with some spare change can buy into. An instantly recognizable symbol that wears the wearer, supposedly injecting him with personality and entrance into a certain demographic that is 'aware,' much like the ubiquitous Bathing Ape/Ice Cream/BBC movement.

I'll very much admit in this regard I'm an elitist, but any time a brand reaches the point where it can be bought into with just a 'click' of the register, no thought required, then that thing has long sold out.

I realize an error in this argument - technically clothing as meant to be purchased, anyone can 'buy' into any brand identity. But the kind of exclusivity displayed by many designers discussed on this board I don't think is the same that is as lazily pushed and received as something like a cute heart logo or an ape head.

[lowrey]

^ the Play line is probably the worst thing to come out of CDG. its just badly made and poorly fitting basics which are set apart from Wal-mart t-shirt/polos by nothing but the the ugly logos. the wallets are also something I hate, they sell them to any moderately popular clothing stores, which take them with open arms because they can list CDG as one of their brands.

[Fade to Black]

theres a lotta cdg mediocrity...i just found out Junya came out with some Dickies collab "worker t-shirts" that are more than $200 USD a pop and all it is , is a regular cotton tee with some pockets in the front. The Junya "Vans," CDG X Fred Perry (arguably more of a travesty than the Play line itself), Speedo, the CdG shirt cartoon stuff, etc etc...

[Faust]

TOKYO--In Harajuku, you have to earn your fashion spurs.

For the Saturday debut of H&M's Comme des Garçons collection at the Swedish retailer's new store here, more than 2,000 eager shoppers braved the elements, some for days, in a line that snaked back round Omotesando Ave. all the way to a nearby park to secure first dabs on CdG designer and founder Rei Kawakubo's latest venture.

Takashi Okabe, 24, and a group of five of his friends, were the first customers to enter the store, an honor they worked for dearly. As early as Wednesday, they camped outside the store in six-hour shifts on a foil mat, battling biting winds and drizzling rain. Okabe said the wait was worth it- and not just for the clothes. "I managed to make some new friends," he quipped.

Nearby, Miki Nakashima, 27, and a friend were guarding their coveted spot in line since 5am Friday, turning to scones from Starbucks and oden, a Japanese stew served up in convenience stores, for sustenance. "We're getting really excited because we've waited so long," she said just before the doors opened and enthusiastic shoppers flooded the store, high-fiving H&M staff on the way in.

University student Hayato Hidaka, 22, claimed his own five minutes of fame for being the first customer to exit the new store, granting interviews to Japanese TV crews in a slightly bewildered state. Despite waiting at the store since 5am Friday, he only made a single purchase: a plain white t-shirt with a single breast pocket. "There were too many people," he reasoned. "But I was still happy to see what was inside and feel the vibrations."

The CdG collection's Japanese debut coincided with the opening of the new Harajuku store. H&M's flagship in Ginza, its first store in Japan, also started selling the collection this weekend before the global launch kicks off Thursday. Anticipating especially strong demand in Kawakubo's home country, H&M allocated enough boiled wool pea coats, harem pants and polka dot cardigans to ensure that the collection didn't sell out the first weekend.

“We have the largest quantity for Japan knowing that it will probably be very popular and also that we don’t want to disappoint," said Christine Edman, H&M's country manager and representative director for Japan.

And further evidence to CdG's cult status in Japan, consumers here are willing to spend more for the limited-run pieces than shoppers in the U.S. or Europe. The collection's tuxedo jacket for example, retails for 15,990 yen, or $162.85 at current exchange. The same item will retail for $99.00 in the U.S. and 79.90 euros ($101.66) in much of the Eurozone.

Taking a cue from luxury brands' architectural statement stores, H&M's Harajuku outpost occupies the lower four levels of a new asymmetrical glass building, one of the tallest on Meiji street near the intersection with Omotesando Ave. Officially dubbed "The Ice Cubes", it is illuminated by night, an effect reminiscent of the nearby Dior flagship. Universal Design Studio, which has designed stores for Stella McCartney and the bar at Damien Hirst's Pharmacy in London, developed the store's facades and stairwells featuring mirrored metal slats. Illustrator Lovisa Burfitt's quirky sketches of animals and fashion items adorn some of the walls.

H&M feted the store Friday night with a shopping party (excluding the CdG merchandise) where Kawakubo put in a brief appearance after spending that morning at the store folding her signature shirts with precision.

"Until the very last minute she worked with all her heart," said Adrian Joffe, CdG's managing director and Kawakubo's husband. Margareta van den Bosch, who oversees H&M’s designer collaborations, also emphasized Kawakubo's level of attention to detail as the designer crafted samples and approved each garment. “She looked at every style and said yes or no or ‘I would like to have it like this inside’," she said.

With a selling space of more than 16,000 square-feet, the Harajuku store stocks women's and men's apparel and accessories with a younger, more fashion-forward product mix than H&M's Ginza store, which opened in September with much fanfare. Even two months later, customers are still lining up each morning before the store opens- a fact that prompted H&M to boost staffing and security for the Harajuku opening.

Still, Edman said she recognizes the fragile dynamics of hype in Japan and doesn't want to exploit H&M's newfound momentum in Japan too quickly. Next fall, the retailer will open its third and fourth Japanese stores in the Shibuya and Shinjuku neighborhoods of Tokyo. But the executive said she's not ready to announce any expansion beyond that.

“I just have to wait and see, I think," she said. “I don’t want to jump the gun."

[darkanimal]

Ridiculous!!! Well, there are two H&M's in my work area, like 3 blocks away, I will spy the day before if people are gonna actually line up for it.