I’ve never seen a designer collaboration launch that reduced grown women to babies and caused children to act like grown adults with credit cards. Then I attended the launch of the Lanvin for H&M collection.
When the French haute couture fashion house decided to collaborate with the retailer chain on a line, with Lanvin designer Alber Elbaz at the reins, I anticipated a maelstrom of squeals from the fashion masses. Known for its structural cocktail dresses, tailored suits and billowing dresses, Lanvin’s aesthetic has not only garnered raves from the fashion world, but from the masses as well.
The Lanvin for H&M collection features a cornucopia of cocktail dresses that swim in Lanvin’s signature ruffles and flounces and cinched waists, which can camouflage the tummy if one has just eaten a large burrito. One such creation, a searingly hot pink dress bursting with ruffles for $199, borders on a Malibu-Barbie vibe but saves itself with fabric reminiscent of duchess satin to make it less like something a hunk of plastic would wear.
Other cocktail dresses veered more along the lines of sophistication, like what one would wear at a holiday party that serves fancy drinks with straws and canapes. There were some snatching frenzies fraught with passive aggressiveness over acquiring the structured cocktail dresses on the rack, especially the lemon yellow frock with the ruffle one-shouldered strap for $199.
While the collection features a large array of colors, a large majority of the wares are black, for those who are a little less enthusiastic about the colors of the double rainbow. The black structured garment for $199 with some less sprightly ruffles spilling over on the shoulders emanates wafts of refinement. Another long-sleeved satin dress with cinched shoulder pads for $99 is a little more demure.
As if Elbaz couldn’t be smarter about his collaboration, he made separates and accessories, such as skirts, trench coats, shoes, necklaces and earrings. The designer even capitalized on the animal print craze with a zebra print trench coat, as if people weren’t already wild beasts for the collection. And even those who cannot afford the aforementioned display of frills can buy a piece of Lanvin for H&M jewelry for $19.95.
Perhaps the one must-have item of the whole collection is the $249 tulle gown that is the epitome of ballerina pipe dreams. Available in both gray and red, the gown is a cascading explosion of tulle cinched at the waist with a ribbon. I almost lost an arm as I put my hand on one of the few tulle gowns left on the rack when a toddler snatched it out from under me, screaming with glee.
On the other end of the Lanvin for H&M collection is menswear, reminiscent of Lanvin’s tailored suits and Elbaz’s signature bow ties. While a tuxedo veers into the $299 price range, the blazer with the satin lapel is $149. The ties fall into the $29.95 price point, with a cute leopard print bow tie for the male-animal-print and Lanvin enthusiasts out there.
Perhaps the only flaw of the menswear side of the collection is a purple leopard print T-shirt and a T-shirt with a tiger on it for $19.95. They emanate a little bit of an Ed Hardy vibe, which, sadly, is appropriate for the Los Angeles audience.
While the price points are more on the maxed-out spectrum of a college student’s credit card, it can be put into perspective. Regularly, Lanvin dresses run into the several-of-thousands-of-dollars range, whereas everything in the H&M collection is less than $300. Likewise, those who just want a little Lanvin in their lives can buy a $39.95 T-shirt decorated with Elbaz’s watercolor sketches.
And although the racks are stripped clean at this point, I’m sure H&M will be restocking in the near future. However, it should be forewarned that toddlers can be vicious Lanvin fans, too.
““ Teresa Jue
E-mail Jue at tjue@media.ucla.edu.