Comme des Garçons for H&M: reflections and considerations

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So the big day arrived and went and Comme des Garçons finally debuted at H&M stores across the UK on Thursday. It’s impossible to disagree: this was a great collaboration between a sort of "anarchist" fashion designer and a famous chain. I love the way Rei Kawakubo works, I love her integrity and the fact she doesn’t really care about being under the spotlight.

Yet my admiration for Kawakubo didn’t make me queue outside any H&M chain, even though people have been raving and ranting about the quality of the designs, the fabrics and the cut, the three main things I take care of when I look at a garment. I hate queuing up, especially if the queue leads to a shop/shopping centre/mall etc, and I also hate collections done by famous designers or celebrities for big chains.

When Cavalli did a collection for H&M there were riots in some of the Italy-based shops of the Swedish branch. I find it ridiculous rioting for a dress that I will see worn by hundreds and hundreds of people around the world. Yes, I know it's the way you wear these pieces that will make the difference, but they are instantly recognisable all the same, unless you rip them to bits, deconstruct them and put them together again, Kawakubo-style (might be a good idea in fact...). As limited as these collections might be, they still feature too many pieces of the same item for my tastes, and in my mind they mean total homologation. I might sound disgustingly elitist, but I would hate seeing myself walking in the street and being surrounded by other people wearing my same outfit. The day it will happen I will admit I have lost my style and become a fashionista. I know, I know, don’t shout, when a designer releases a line for a big store chain, people can afford buying supposedly original designs at affordable prices.

But I remember there was a time when fashionable clothes and accessories by particular designers weren’t disgustingly expensive and their quality was also great. These were the main ideas behind the great designs created by Italian prêt-à-porter companies. Take Elio Fiorucci: twenty-five years ago his brand produced designs characterised by what I would summarise as the three “F’s”: fashionable, fun and functional. Fiorucci’s clothes and accessories were affordable, covetable and good quality. I still have scarves, necklaces and hairpins by Fiorucci from the early ‘80s and I can assure you that I wore them a lot. Elio Fiorucci has recently designed two collections for Italian clothing chain Oviesse: "Baby Angel”, marketed for teenagers, and “Selected by Elio Fiorucci” for more mature customers. The results are simply upsetting: seen from afar the collections look fun and colourful, but touch the fabrics, have a look at the cut and you’ll run away screaming in fear. Elio, tell us, where are those amazing Mickey Mouse woollen jumpers we bought in the early ‘80s that were virtually indestructible? I perfectly understand, it’s almost impossible to produce a high-quality woollen top that should be sold at the retail price of 15 Euros, but I’d be keen on spending a little bit more for something that doesn’t get destroyed after you put it in the laundry machine once.

Creating cheap collections for major chains is the trend, but it’s not often the solution. Surely Roberto Cavalli didn’t design stuff for H&M thinking “Let’s give people who can’t afford my designs the chance to buy them and also get some quality”. He probably thought: “Let’s just try to get these sheep addicted to my clothes so that, as soon as they will have some serious money, they will spend it on my designs”. When I was a little girl there was a great tradition in Italy: buy a dress/suit/coat/etc characterised by a timeless design and wear it for as long as you can. Now, despite the crisis, we buy more and throw out a lot, and what we buy is not exclusive or high quality, though we delude ourselves in thinking it is.

So, yes, get excited about the next collaboration between a famous name and a big chain, but avoid queuing up for it, thinking you’re buying something absolutely fantastic. If you want something more original save up money and buy something really exclusive. I’m not suggesting investing in haute couture, but maybe investing in virtually unknown but young and talented designers. If you can’t really resist the capitalist pressures, join the queues outside the next chain that will launch the umpteenth collaboration with a famous designer. You will never find me there, though, I’m too old to stand outside a shop in the cold and wait hours to buy some garments that will compromise my personal style.

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