H&M meets V&R
Until today, it is fair to say that H&M has played it safe with its high-fashion collaborations -- a holiday tradition where the behemoth Swedish retailer enlists a major name to design a limited-edition line. Karl Lagerfeld's 2004 collection was rendered entirely in black and white, while last year's Stella McCartney line was so sweet and feminine, it flew out of H&M's Manhattan store in 11 minutes. The legend of the initial Stella fracas continues to grow (hair pulling! dress tearing!).
This morning, H&M debuts a new high-fashion collaboration in 11 US stores (including its shop on Newbury Street), which dispenses with the tradition of playing it safe. It also offers a major coup for the esoteric Dutch design duo of Viktor & Rolf. Endlessly clever, charming, and innovative, Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren, both 37, have long been the darlings of fashion insiders and a fair number of celebrities, from Tilda Swinton to Kanye West. The pair are now hoping that those who can't pony up thousands for couture will start expressing their love by spending on lower-priced ventures.
"We said yes, right away," recalls Snoeren of initial conversations with H&M. "We quite liked the two earlier collaborations and this gives us an opportunity to talk to a larger audience. As much as we love fashion, it is very limited. To make our clothes available to more people was very interesting."
Interesting, because Viktor & Rolf have sent clothes down the runway filled with shape-distorting balloons, and once presented an entire collection of nine outfits on a single model. They consistently poke fun at the fashion world and its rules with highly theatrical runway shows. Snoeren says they dress and groom alike (no, they're not brothers) to lend to the illusion that they are two designers of one mind. The word mainstream doesn't readily come to mind when Viktor & Rolf are mentioned.
"Their runway shows are not a standard fashion parade," says Pam Parmal, curator of textile and fashion arts at the Museum of Fine Arts. "They use their shows to make a statement."
But Snoeren, on the phone from Paris, sounds like he is more than ready to reach a wider audience, in addition to making artistic statements.
"In our case, in order to reach a wider audience, we really need to get out of a niche," he says. "It's great for people to say 'They are so creative,' but that's a niche. We want to become something bigger, to grow a real business."
The H&M clothes should go far to help the pair build name recognition. While a few of the pieces fall flat -- such as the dowdy gray sweatshirts -- most of the women's and men's clothes are playful, young, and boast interesting cuts and details. The women's collection is centered around hearts, while the menswear sports arrows.
"The first thing we thought when they called was 'What can we really do that is different?' We starting thinking that this is really like a short-term wedding," Snoeren says. "We were thinking this is a union of H&M, which makes cheap clothes, and us, coming from the very high end. A wedding dress is something that's a symbol of exclusivity, and to have that available at H&M is really quite ironic."
The Viktor & Rolf wedding dress, the first wedding dress ever to be sold at H&M, will sell for $349. There will only be 1,000 for sale in the United States.
In addition to the H&M collaboration, the pair have also introduced fragrances in an attempt to reach a wider audience: Flower Bomb for women and Antidote for men. But in true V&R fashion, there is nothing ordinary about the scents. The fragrances were developed by the pair ("It's not a licensed product, it's our DNA"), along with the packaging and advertising. Music for the commercial was written by Rufus Wainwright.
"What's important for us is the coherence of the story," he says. "With everything we do, we're delivering a message. The clothes, the fragrances, these are actors in a play. In the end, it's the play that's important to us."
