Discovering your favourite designer brand is working with a high street store is a bit like finding out your celebrity crush will be coming to your best friend’s birthday party. Although, ever since H&M kicked off the trend by collaborating with Karl Lagerfeld back in 2004, picking up a piece of catwalk-worthy clothing for under MOP1,000 has become a lot more likely than chatting to Ryan Gosling over canapés and cocktails.
Over the last decade these collaborations have become increasingly popular, with mass retailers like H&M, Nike, Uniqlo and Topshop all hoping to find the hot designer or luxury brand of the moment to work with, from Maison Margiela to Givenchy and Marni.
And these collaborations are win-win-win. The high street brand gets to boast a partnership with one of the world’s top fashion houses. The designer names attract vast media coverage and access to an entirely new type of customer. And, for fashion-conscious savvy shoppers who don’t have the means to charter a plane to Paris once a month, it’s luxury wear that’s much easier on the hip pocket.
Here are three recent and upcoming collaboration collections that we are eager to get our hands on:
Olivier Rousteing x NikeLab
If you’re loving the sportswear trend, try Nike’s collaboration with Olivier Rousteing, Balmain’s creative director, which recently hit stores in June. We suspect these sleek, stylish, all-black pieces will be more suited to a rooftop bar than your local gym, but they’re lustworthy nonetheless.
Riccardo Tisci x NikeLab
Yes, NikeLab are going collab crazy! After Olivier’s collection, NikeLab is teaming up with Givenchy’s Riccardo Tisci for a second time with an athletic apparel collection. It’s clearly a golden partnership – back in 2014, their Nike + R.T. Air Force 1 collection sold out promptly, and we expect similar hysteria this time around, when the new collection launches in two parts. Monochrome kicks and sports bras head up the July launch, with captivating Italian floral print sneakers and sportswear to follow in August.
Kenzo x H&M
If you’re a fan of eclectic, fashion-forward designs, you should be at H&M on 3 November. And it’ll be all about Kenzo. The new Kenzo x H&M collection will feature the oversized logos and tiger-print motifs we know and love them for.
And just in case Ryan Gosling really is coming to dinner – dress to impress with a show-stopping outfit from Shop The Boulevard.
