Well, fashionistas, it happened. Isabel Marant’s collection with H&M launched on Thursday, November 14th, and it was wonderful (while it lasted!). The renowned Parisian fashion designer is the go-to for effortlessly cool clothing and a favorite among off-duty models and style icons such as Kate Moss, Sienna Miller and Gwyneth Paltrow. The nonchalance of her style makes her pieces easy to incorporate into everyday life. So, it’s no surprise that the popularity of her collaboration with the high street brand was through the roof, especially when the pieces were significantly cheaper than what they normally go for.
The collection went on sale in select stores at 8 AM. To handle the crowds, the first 420 people waiting in line were given colored bracelets that would determine when it was their time to shop the collection. Once inside, they were only given 15 minutes to shop, and could not buy more than four of the same product. It only took a few hours before most of the pieces, especially favorites like the beaded jacket, wool-blend cardigan, and fringe boots, were all bought up from the stores and being sold for triple the price on eBay. Still, the raised prices on eBay remain cheaper than what a detailed Isabel Marant jacket would normally go for, so it’s almost justifiable to buy from the site.
Meanwhile in cyberspace, the Isabel Marant collection didn’t launch on H&M’s website until noon that day. Unable to handle the high traffic on the website, H&M put online shoppers into a virtual queue. Unfortunately for many, by the time they refreshed their browsers, much of the pieces in the collection had already sold out online too.
For those who were able to brave the chaos and get their hands on pieces from the chic collection, consider yourselves lucky! While you may still be able to find a piece or two from the collection lying around in H&M, the majority of it is all sold out. Isabel Marant’s style is quickly taking the place of the stripey t-shirt and beret as the new uniform of Paris, so you’ll certainly be bringing a bit of fashion-forward Paris to the streets of the USA!