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What’s that jacket, Margiela?
Monday 23rd July 2012 | Osh
Designer fashion is slated as being unattainable, exclusive and over-priced. To overcome this barrier between high-end fashion and the hoards of consumers the thoughtful people behind high street giants such as H&M and Topshop have kindly announced upcoming collaborations with legendary designer Martin Margiela and innovative newcomer J W Anderson. Oh, aren’t they nice?
Kate Moss’ sell out collaboration with Topshop way back in 2007 triggered the trend of blurring the lines between high end and high street fashion, but have designer collaborations become all a bit too gimmicky and predictable? Legendary avant-garde fashion house Maison Margiela has just announced an upcoming collaboration with high-street chain H&M set to drop in store 15th November. Martin Margiela is the pinnacle of radical, avant-garde innovation in contemporary fashion design. Legendary for sticking two fingers up at the fashion industry and creating his unique conceptual aesthetic you’d expect the house’s next venture would continue this rebellion. Instead the elusive designer famous for his anonymity, his anti-establishment designs as fore-father of ‘deconstruction’ in the eighties will be creating a ready to wear collection with H&M. Definitely a “new interpretation of our vision” this is a massive difference from creating jackets out of ski gloves back in the day.
Similarly, last year’s nominee for the Emerging Talent award by the British Fashion Council and favourite of Alexa Chung, J W Anderson has announced his collaboration with Topshop, coming to a store near you this September. Topshop’s creative director Kate Phelan bigs up the collection as being an amalgamation of his “best designs to date, a sort of must have wardrobe of covetable pieces”. However, the collection will not only feature clothes but also objects such as pencils, photography books and, more quirkily, Rubik’s cubes. Anderson is known as using numerous references in his designs. His Spring/Summer 2011 collection was inspired by the gritty and honest photography of William Gedney and it seems likely that this same aesthetic will feature in the books that will be available.
Yes designer collaborations are never quite the same as the real deal and it still remains questionable whether there is a point where designer becomes too accessible so that it loses its appeal of exclusivity. But in tough economic times we can’t complain and to check out what all the hype is about get down to Topshop in September for your share of J W Anderson and November in H&M for a chance to own a piece from the iconic Margiela. If November seems like too long of a wait there is a sneak preview below.
Rachel Thom @ThomRachel
