Sunday, October 28, 2012

Marni + H&M Men's RTW Spring 2012

                                                                           
Collaborative capsule collections between a House and a large retailer: what's the point?

No really, I'm critically asking, but not criticizing. Think: The Webster for Target, Jeremy Scott for Adidas (see my winged marble hig-top post), the yearly (insert designer) for H&M and to a lesser extent Thom Browne for Brooks Brothers (Black Fleece). They are curious things.  From a financial standpoint, ostensibly both sides of the collaborative sartorial coin stand to gain monetarily.  Gains come from increased market exposure to consumers who might have been otherwise priced out.  It perhaps provides a challenge to both sides to design for a certain price point while retaining the essence of the premium brand's character.  But does the premium brand suffer by going too downmarket? Does the mass market retailer suffer by embracing something faux-upscale, thereby rendering the rest of their merchandise not special? 

After politely acknowledging the self-referential irony and whimsy of the Versace for H&M collection, and just window-shopping, I was unsure about the Marni for H&M collection. Marni's quirky esthetic, the peculiar prints and color palette (mud browns, not-quite-navy, pea green, and is-it-red-or-is-it-orange) never appealed to me.  But presented with an opportunity to introduce the brand to new prospective buyers at an accessible price point, one never knows what direction the designer might take: go ultra avant-garde (unwearable), or play it very safe (boring).  I am referring only to the men's pieces, for the record.  

The Marni for H&M collection was mostly yawn and head-scratching-worthy. The half rain-jackets? I'll wear that when it's, um misting?  The long coat with 10 trillion pockets and Little Red Riding Hood hood? Uh, what. The prints looked like a child had made them with a stencil, etc.  And the socks? Well those were the answer to a question that nobody asked. There were two pieces (ok, the suit counts as two + a coat, makes 3), that I found to be clever, wearable, and interesting.  The long (actually navy) coat with sweater sleeves was new enough that it would stand out from a normal long quasi-trench, but normal enough that I could actually routinely wear it and pair it with normal clothing, i.e. a navy suit underneath.  The striped suit was also of interest in that it was made from an interesting almost selvedge-like material and had some interesting tailored details: seams along the inside of the arms, and along the outside of the pantleg in particular.  I chose the pants vice the shorts because, uh, I can't wear dress shorts to work. I tried on the light blue dress shirt with the navy collar. But even in my size, the fit was peculiar.   Oh, I bought these months after they came out on the sale rack for about 75% off.  I am a big guy so it appeared, fortuitously, that the only sizes that did not sell were the sizes that fit me perfectly.  Also on the sale rack were dozens of the atrociously-weird non-symmetrical colorblocked sweaters in every size. Even discounted to USD 19.95 I still said no thanks.  That was a miss there on that garment.  








The most unique piece from the whole collection for men. 
Looks best with the collar flipped up.


As always, the packaging it unique and come with the garment(s). 
So what's the point: does this collaborative capsule collection, whether purchased at retail and/or discounted prices cheapen the Marni brand? Does it elevate H&M's reputation for steadily-increasing quality tailoring, fit and finish of their "higher" end clothes? Probably not, and probably yes, respectively.  

But then again, to paraphrase Charlie Bucket, "It's candy*, it doesn't have to have a point.
*fashion