The Shophound

COLLABORATION ANTICIPATION: H&M Returns To Designer Collaborations With Isabel Marant

After a season-long break H&M has signaled that it is not quite ready to give up on its famous designer collaborations by anouncing a line with popular Parisian designer Isabel Marant for this Fall (pictured at right). The Swedish fast-fashion giant took a break on the program after an elaborately expanded collection with Maison Martin Margiela failed to catch fire with customers last season. The misstep may have taught the chain to keep the collaboration events more exclusive. The Marant collection will bow on November 14th in only 250 stores worldwide as well as through H&M's website where online shopping is available (meaning not here yet).

Like other H&M collaborators, Marant is using the opportunity to broaden her scope, offering, for the first time ever, about 25 clothing and accessory designs for men and around 30 for children aged 10-18. The retailer is taking few chances by choosing Marant, following in a tradition of mixing iconic names like Versace, Lagerfeld and Lanvin with up-and-comers or more esoteric brands like Marni and Stella McCartney, who at the time of her collaboration had just restarted her signature label. This time they have chosen a designer known for casual, trendy women's sportswear that is more wearable and accessible than what Haute Couture houses or more avant-garde designers like Margiela are known for. As the designer herself says,

“I am flattered by this collaboration. H&M works with the best designers, and this invitation is an exciting honor. I aim at creating something real – something women want to wear in their everyday lives – with a certain carefree style. I think this is very Parisian: You dress up, but don’t pay too much attention to it, and you still look sexy. The collection is infused with this kind of easiness and attitude. Everything can be combined following one’s own instincts, and my take on fashion is all about personality,”

The line should position Marant for a publicity explosion, particularly in the U.S. where her popularity is growing rapidly and she has two recently opened stores in New York and Los Angeles. If successful, which seems likely, should put H&M back in the designer collaboration game that it helped create and that fueled its early growth in the U.S. Look for information about the collection to be strategically leaked throughout the Summer. Stay tuned.

 After the jump, see a video about the collection
 

COURSE CORRECTION: Ralph Lauren Denim & Supply Takes Over For Rugby

Yesterday saw the completion of Ralph Lauren's real estate remedy as his more popularly priced Denim & Supply brand took over the space that originally held the designer's defunct Rugby boutique on University place. It's as if he got rid of his fantasy version of collegiate wear and replaced it with something somewhat closer to what college kids actually wear. Whether the built-in NYU client base for the location will be shopping up a storm at Denim & Supply remains to be seen, but promoting the more casual, jeans-based brand seems to be a better strategy for the designer to court a younger customer.

This will be the first Denim & Supply shop in New York and the second in the U.S. after the recent Boston Rugby-store-conversion, with more to come as other locations of the folded chain get retrofitted for a new brand. Lauren's smartest move was to strip the former store's interior of its cluttery, whitewashed fixtures to open it up. The gutted aesthetic naurally works better for the new line, but of course the folks at Ralph Lauren turned around and fitted the newly stripped interior with more, different clutter. They are, after all, junkies for clutter at Ralph Lauren, but the new aesthetic at Denim & Supply is more surplus store-inspired, and not entirely unlike the way his RRL shops looked when that sub-brand debuted about 20 years ago before eventually morphing into a vintage-based collection (following the evolutions of Lauren's myriad brands can be exhausting).

Denim & Supply may well succeed as the Abercombie & Fitch/American Eagle killer that Rugby failed to become. The store is brimming with denim in every possible stage of distress from lightly faded to fully shredded with Indian fabric patches to multicolored paint-stained to brightly hued garment dyed versions. Then there are the cargo shorts in every possible camouflage or animal pattern, to be topped with chambray or maybe a polynesian print western shirt. Add some randomly placed American flags and plenty of bandannas and voilà! You have the Ralph Lauren formula for casual wear with a rock/hippie/boho edge. Expect to aee it replicated widely soon, possibly at a mall near you as the company is pushing hard for more freestanding shops for its own labels. With Abercrombie experiencing yet another wave of unfavorable PR on several fronts, The time might be right for the original Americana designer to step in and bring them down a peg or two.

Ralph Lauren Denim & Supply 99 University Place at 12th Street, Greenwich Village

COLLABORATION ANTICIPATION: J.Crew's CFDA/VOGUE Fashion Fund Collections Launch Next Week With Tabitha Simmons, The Elder Statesman & Jennifer Meyer

One might think that at some point, The Shophound will get sick of collaboration lines between designers and retailers, but we, and shoppers, seem to have an endless fascination for them, especially when it provides an opportunity for up and coming, young designers to get valuable attention. Next Wednesday, May 22, J. Crew will once again present capsule collections from the top three finalist for the CFDA/VOGUE Fashion Fund, Tabitha Simmons, Jennifer Meyer and The Elder Statesman. The concise assortments distill each designer's specialty including colorful footwear from Simmons, Glittering jewels from Meyer and the inventive knits (apparently for women only this time) that have put The Elder Statesman in the spotlight. Have a look in our gallery below, and if you want to shop the collections online one day earlier than the rest of the general public, sign up HERE so J.Crew can notify you at the very first instant they are available.

CFDA/VOGUE Fashion Fund Designer Capsule Collections at J.Crew (Official Site)

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COLLABORATION ANTICIPATION: Uniqlo Taps Social Media For Suno & Michael Bastian Collaboration Contests

Monday will be a bigger than usual day at UNIQLO as the Japanese based chain launches its first major collaborations with American designers in several seasons. To make sure you don't miss out, the retailer is running two contests through Facebook and Twitter to drum up excitement among customers.

There's not much time to enter Contest #1. The lucky winner will receive a "Personal Shopping Experience" with either designer Michael Bastian or the Suno designers Max Osterweis and Erin Beatty at the collections' launch party on Monday May 20th at the Uniqlo Fifth Avenue Flagship plus a $100 shopping credit to spend at the event. Entrants must register on Facebook HERE, and then Tweet a question to the designers at @UniqloUSA that you would like them to answer including the tags, "#AsktheDesigner @UNIQLOUSA" all before 3 PM tomorrow, May 17th.

Contest #2 is giving away 10 of Michael Bastian's Uniqlo Polo Shirts each week to winners who choose their favorite styles from the collection on Facebook HERE. You can re-enter once every hour, so it's up to you to increase your odds.

UNIQLO Launch Party with Michael Bastian and SUNO, UNIQLO x Michael Bastian Polo Giveaway (Facebook)
UNIQLO (Official Site)

COLLABORATION ANTICIPATION: Target Taps 3.1 Phillip Lim For Fall Collaboration

In more Target news, after a stumble last Winter with a poorly performing collaboration with Neiman Marcus and a host of designers, the retailer is getting back to basics with a Fall capsule collection with —not a retailer or a stylist, but a popular designer. 3.1 Phillip Lim for Target will launch on September 15th and, in a pleasant surprise, will offer apparel, shoes and accessories for both women and men. The collection was announced in a Wall Street Journal article (sorry WWD) that questioned whether the public still had an appetite for designer collaborations after missteps last year from leaders in the practice like Target and also H&M, whose Maison Martin Margiela collaboration was an uncharacteristically poor performer. Last Year was but a bump in the road, however and if the Neiman Marcus and "Shops at Target" programs received mixed responses, a simple team-up with a popular designer should put things right back in order. The product line will consist of over 100 items priced from $19.99 to $299.99.

As for H&M, the chain has already announced that it would skip its regular Spring collaboration this year, but we are expecting one for the Fall —which they should be announcing any day now...

The Retailer-Designer Dating Game (Wall Street Journal)

After the jump, check out a video preview of the collection

ALEXANDRA JACOBS GOES SHOPPING: Witchy Hippie Edition

In this week's Thursday Styles, Critical Shopper Alexandra Jacobs alerts us all to the arrival in SoHo of Gudrun Sjoden;s first American store, which as you may have deduced, comes to us from Sweden. Our shopper cannot help herself from recalling various poems about getting old and fat, which makes it pretty clear that she sees it as a store for not just any old lady, but a peculiarly eccentric one —the sort who really doesn't care if the various components of her outfit have anything to do with each other as long as each piece amuses her in some way. Our shopper describes the offerings as "more fanciful than practical, returning the mature woman to a presexual, innocent time of frolicking in the fields, mud pies and fingerpaint."

Ultimately, the store doesn't seem to really fit in with the slick, ever more designer laden SoHo storescape,

Ms. Sjoden’s outpost also seems an odd addition to the slick, condopped SoHo of today. It harks back rather to the long-gone eccentric, sculptor’s neighborhood that mandated colorful oversize jewelry clanking atop overalls, rompers, smocks and tunics, like the Sus & Dus cotton-rayon artist’s blouse ($90) with “generous fit over the hips,” as the spring catalog promises.

So Hervé Leger, it isn't, but with more and more tourists converging on the neighborhood, it hardly seems to matter if any store there caters to a particular image of a New York woman. And, eventually, all those tourists who continue to line up in front of the Kardashian sisters' pseudo-store Dash, are probably going to get old and want to transition into something loose, loud and flower-printed.

Critical Shopper: Glinda Would Be at Ease By Alexandra Jacobs (NYTimes)
Gudrun Sjoden 50 Greene Street between Broome & Grand Streets, SoHo

COLLABORATION ANTICIPATION: More On Uniqlo's Collaborations With Michael Bastian & Suno

May 20th is going to be a big day at Uniqlo stores as they unveil their first American designer collaborations in a few seasons. The hype is already starting. Yesterday, the retailer released the video above which shows designer Michael Bastian discussing his polo shirt project. The secret, it turns out, is a perfectly fitted short sleeve that maximizes bicep shape, so take note. From what we can tell, it looks like there may be nearly 50 different styles and colorways in this collection, which is an impressive offering.

As for the Suno line debuting on the same day, there is no video yet, but the fashion blogs are all abuzz for the first big high-profile collaboration from designers Max Osterweis and Erin Beatty. We have scoured the internets to find as many images we could of the collection, so click on our gallery below to see what's to come.

You may be inclined to line up in front of the nearest Uniqlo store on May 20th to make sure you get the best choice since the polo shirts will all be priced at a mere $19.90, and the Suno collection is reported to top out at $39.90. Remember how much fun it was to queue up for those +J launches? Yeah, anyway, now that there are three giant flagships plus new mall stores popping up every other minute, it might not be such a crush this time around. We recommend checking the lower profile 34th Street store first, since the weekday crowds there are lighter than on Fifth Avenue or in SoHo, and it tends to be the last to sell out of things. This time, as a back up and for customers who are not near an Uniqlo store, you will be able to purchase the collections online which should also make things easier, and don't forget to watch this space as more information is released.

UNIQLO x Michale Bastian (Official Site)
Previously:
Uniqlo Turns Back To America For Lines With Suno & Michael Bastian

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RETURN ENGAGEMENT: Burkman Bros. Tourist Makes A Return Visit To Urban Outfitters

Urban Outfitters' collaboration collections can be tough to keep track of. Sometimes they are there, and then sometimes they aren't, and then they show up again. Last year, chain launched The Tourist with Burkman Bros with fanfare featuring versions of the brand's quirky, outdoorsy sportswear at a fraction of the main collection's price, but they never followed it up in the Fall. Maybe it's just a warm weather brand, becasue the label has quietly reappeared this month. So far, six pieces are available online featuring bold prints with far flung origins befitting the label's name. We stopped by the Fifth Avenue branch and found most of them in the store (pictured below). Whether there are more styles coming or not remains to be seen, but with bright African prints and Ikat patterns, one piece at a time will go a long way for most people, but the styles look like they could have been lifted right out of the main Burkman Bros. collection. For Burkman fans, here's one more chance to get the authentic look for less, which might not come around again... unless, of course, it does.

The Tourist by Burkman Bros. At Urban Outfitters (Official Site)

STEALTH ATTACK: Rag & Bone Sneaks Into Ed Hardy's Old Meatpacking District Spot

Ever since they closed their "Nobody knew it was a" Pop-up store on Madison Avenue, Rag & Bone's retail strategy for Manhattan has been less conventional than their previous "conquer every neighborhood" plan. Their latest low-profile entry is near the corner of 13th Street and Washington Street in the space that once held the reviled Ed Hardy's first New York store (pictured at left). The signage above that reads "Dave's Quality Veal" is a remnant of the building's past as a meatpacking plant (Remember when they actually did that there? Remember the smell?). It is not to be confused with Dave's Quality Meat, or DQM, the cult East Village streetwear store. What it does hold is not only a new Rag & Bone shop but also a Jack's Stir Brew Coffee bar. We're not sure if Jack's is a guest of Rag & Bone or the other way around, but the coffee company is the only one listing the store on its website, which might make the international sportswear label a temporary guest in the way that indie bookstores and fringe theater groups sometimes are.

It's a little strange, although Rag & Bone has become so ubiquitous in Manhattan that it's surprising to realize that they didn't already have a Meatpacking District store since they have already hit the East Village, NoLita and SoHo. A plus for the brand: It's only a few doors away from All Saints, so they can easily keep an eye on the chain's Rag & Bone knockoffs. Convenience!

Rag & Bone X Jack's Stir Brew Coffee 425 West 13th Street between Ninth Avenue & Washington Street, Meatpacking District

COLLABORATION ANTICIPATION: Uniqlo Turns Back To America For Lines With Suno & Michael Bastian Updated

It has been a while since Uniqlo has tapped American designers for its many collaboration lines. The most recent we can recall was a team-up with Costello-Tagliapietra for a series of well-received dress collections a couple of years ago, and we would have to go back even longer to remember Designer Invitation collections from American menswear brands like Loden Dager, Tim Hamilton and Gilded Age. Lately the chain has been focusing on Japanese women's sportswear designers, but that will change next week when the store launches a plethora of new polo shirts designed by Michael Bastian (who is having a busy week of publicity right now). There's no shortage of polos on Uniqlo's shelves right at this moment, but Bastian's will add the designer's special signatures including bold, unexpected prints, and a devotion to perfect proportions that trims down the silhouette and creates an arm enhancing sleeve. “It should fit right above the biceps to give the illusion that you are just about to bust out of it,” he tells the New York Times, so you may want to either buy a size up or just put down that bagel.
Forever.
The best part is that they will retail for a mere $19.90 which less than a fifth of what a similar shirt might cost even from the designer's less expensive collection for Gant.

Bastian isn't the only American designer to check into Uniqlo's studios this season. Erin Beatty and Max Osterweis of the women's label Suno will have a collection of cotton dresses hitting the chain's store's next month, just in time for Summer wardrobe shopping.

You can plan to wear your new clothes on a Friday night to the Museum of Modern Art, where Uniqlo will become the exclusive sponsor of its Friday night free admission program which waives entry fees on that day from 4:00 to 8:00 PM. The chain will take over the sponsorship from Target on May 3, and the first 1000 visitors on that night will receive special Uniqlo tote bags, so mark your calendars

Front Row: The Polo Rebuttoned By Eric Wilson (NYTimes)

UPDATE:
It turns out that those Michael Bastian polo shirts won't be hitting Uniqlo stores until May 20th, so save the date. GQ.com has 23 images of them HERE and HERE. It can't hurt to make your choices early.

The $20 Dollar Polo That Looks Like It Costs $200  &  See More from the Uniqlo x Michael Bastian Polo Collection (GQ.com)