We always wonder how crazy people can get for fashion. Well some of it was answered when luxury brand Balmain launched its clothing line in collaboration with the fast fashion brand H & M. The world went completely crazy as the collaboration opened in their flagship stores. The global launch of the line on November 5th created complete chaos as people rushed to buy the couture clothing at fraction of their original cost. People slept outside the stores all night and pushed their way ahead of the long queue, quite literally.
Regent Street in London witnessed 3000 eager and tired fashion frenzy folks who cluttered to get through the doors of H & M Flagship Store. The latest Balmain x H & M Collection was designed by Olivier Rousteing, Creative Director of the French Fashion House. With names like Kendall Jenner, Gigi Hadid and Rihanna being associated with the brand, the wait seemed worth it.
The collection included signature styles by Olivier Rousteing. Beaded blazers with exaggerated shoulders, sequined cocktail gowns and leather biker jackets with gold, satin and sparkle made the collection highly anticipated. Customers went completely crazy with some of them travelling from places as far as Bulgaria. In fact, a girl travelled all the way to London for a single jacket. The frenzy was not just limited to London and New York. In Australia, even the rains couldn’t deject or move the queue. In Turkey, a stampede turned into a riot and customers knocked out a few rack of clothes while fighting with each other over mannequins and clothing items.
Things went pretty out of control at Regent Street Store too. An H & M spokesperson, who couldn’t be identified due to company policies, said that the company has decided not to open the store until they can ensure the safety of their staff and customers. In Paris, the collection sold out in less than three hours. Apparently, some of the customers plan to sell the merchandise later at higher rates on eBay. But for some customers, that is still a bargain.
And it was not only the fashion stores that witnessed the frenzy. The condition was pretty much the same on the store’s official online store. The site opened at sharp 9 am only to crash within an hour. Those who stayed patient and waited were dismayed after finding mostly sold out products as the site resumed. Within hours of the sales, people were selling them on eBay with a profit margin as high as $1200. Twitter and Instagram were eventually flooded with reports of the clutter, chaos and collection.
On one hand, people who got their desired apparel were rejoicing, there were others who were quite miffed with the collection. Reports of limited sizes being available along with lesser variety were common. Some of the customers even complained that the products unveiled in the collection were actually unavailable at the stores. The obsession people had was of an extreme level as some of the customers even tried to sell the shopping bags on eBay. The bags were actually sold for a rate as high as $15 and people really bought them.
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