Versace X H&M
I cannot believe that it has been 9 years since the launch of the Versace for H&M collection. This was one of the most amazing collaborations the retail super chain have done with a designer! The Swedish high street store is famously known for its successful designer collaborations and has seen some of the biggest names in fashion join forces with them such as; Karl Lagerfeld (2004), Commes Des Garcon (2008) Matthew Williamson (2009), Lanvin (2010), Maison Martin Margiela (2012), Balmain (2015), Kenzo (2016) and Moschino (2018).
Versace’s collection for H&M was full of pieces inspired by items that have made the house of Versace so legendary over the years. It was dominated by print and colour and must have had Donatella searching through the archives to bring some of the brand’s classic’s to a whole new audience. Iconic dresses were a huge focus of the women’s collection and the menswear was focused on super-sharp tailoring. This was the first time a designer collaboration also featured homeware too. They were right to call the collection “the essence of Versace” because that really did sum it up perfectly.
The collection included many of the brand’s iconic designs. For women, a classic black silk crepe dress with gold Grecian buttons and patent straps to a floor-length goddess gown with boning in the bodice. Multi-coloured sequin dresses covered in archival Versace prints, short metallic chainmail dresses in both gold and silver with a matching metallic belt, and strong coloured shift dresses that were embellished with studs in classic Greek motifs. The brand also revisited some of its most famous prints, which for women were used on pieces such as dresses, short pleat skirts, velvet bomber jackets and leggings. Meanwhile, the importance of leather for Versace is reflected in jackets that came decorated with gold studs and zips. The accessories featured a high-heeled laced boot and a studded patent high-heeled sandal, along with studded leather bags covered with the Miami palm print. The men’s collection could be summed up as a mix of slick tailoring and extravagant patterns. Suit jackets and trousers come in either black, turquoise or hot pink with matching leather shoes. The black tuxedo jacket featured metallic tip trims on its pockets and the shirts had metallic wing-tips on the collars. Versace’s palm, Miami and optical prints were used on t-shirts, as well as on thin-knitted cashmere jumpers. The Miami print was also used on a velvet bomber (made famous by being worn by Keane West), and even underwear and swimming trunks. As leather was a huge part of Versace’s history it naturally appeared in the menswear collection too and these leather pieces were really something! A quilted leather biker jacket trimmed with gold zips and studs in the Versace classical Greek pattern with a matching pair of trousers. The same Greek motif was repeated down the sides of a pair of black cotton shorts and a rolled-sleeve T-shirt. Accessories included an embellished beanie and a scarf printed cap and of course a brashy gold necklace with a matching leather cuff.
When I first saw this collection to say I was excited would have been an understatement. I would visit the H&M website pretty much every evening the entire month leading up to the launch to decide what I wanted to buy. Luckily for me, I had some money coming my way from a deposit for a flat I had rented so it really came at the right time!!! I took a day’s annual leave from work for the launch and I would spend hours trying to plan the best way to purchase the goodies! The Newcastle store did not stock the menswear collection and only had a limited range of ladies. I thought it might have been a good idea to travel to one of the cities that were going to stock the collection, such as London, Manchester or Glasgow but I was worried I might have missed the pieces I wanted due to monstrous queues and the utter greed of people wanting to sell on eBay and make a quick buck. I finally decided on sitting at home and waiting in a virtual queue to access the website. This worked pretty well for me and I managed to get a few of the pieces I wanted and a load that I didn’t originally want haha. After the launch, I kept visiting the H&M website and they kept showing more and more pieces in stock that had sold out on the first day. From the site I managed to bag myself;
The black cotton embellished shorts.
Hi-top trainers.
Palm print silk shirt.
Maimi print sleeveless t-shirt.
Crocodile printed t-shirt.
Gold sword and shield necklace.
I was pretty pleased with the pieces I managed to get but I still wanted MOOOOORE LOL. Over the years I would search eBay and other pre-loved apps and managed to get a few more pieces including;
Studded leather jacket - eBay
Pink wing-tipped shirt - Wasteland vintage store LA
Optical print wing-tipped shirt - eBay
Studded belt - eBay
Miami printed cap - eBay
Black wing-tipped shirt - eBay
It took me a good few years to get the pieces I have now, but I couldn’t be happier with them. The leather jacket was a staple in my everyday wear for many years and I still love it to this day. Considering the jacket was worn pretty much every day in the cooler months it is still in pretty good condition (although I did notice a TINY tare in the arm the other day). The colour of the leather has faded but that doesn’t stop me from wearing it as the studs answer all my fashion prayers LOL! Unlike the jacket, the studded shorts really haven’t seen the use they deserve! When the collection came out I was getting ready for a holiday to Las Vegas and these shorts were PERFECT. They have been on every holiday I have been on since getting them so have seen the sights of Miami, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Orlando. This still doesn’t make up for the amount of wardrobe time they have seen. I am extremely careful with everything I own and I am VERY precious over these shorts because the studs can just pop off. I managed to find the same size hotfix studs on eBay so I have a repair kit when it is needed! The trainers aren’t to my taste anymore sadly but they have had a good life and seen many a day out but I will keep hold of them because of the fond memories I have. I sold the two t-shirts in 2014 to go towards a silk shirt from Versus x M.I.A. I decided to sell them because I reeeeeally HATED the neck of both of the t-shirts. The prints were everything but I couldn’t deal with the neckline as it was huge and just didn’t sit nicely as I only like a tee with a nice neat and tight crew neck!
For a collection nearing 10 years old, I think Versace x H&M still stands strong today! If you search on pre-loved websites for certain items they still go for hundreds of pounds both new and used. I would still love to get my mitts on the velvet bomber jacket but I still cannot justify spending £450 for one. Maybe the reason the collection is still so strong is that most of the pieces were inspired by pieces from the Versace vault. Although they were given au upgrade you can still see that they are very similar to the original item. I would love to see Versace do another collection for H&M with a huge focus on accessories featuring sunglasses and newer prints like the ones used in the Tribute Collection in 2019 such as the classic and iconic Baroque and leopard scarf print. Since the collaboration, Versace has really made it into the mainstream with the company doing a huge offering of casual items (which seems to be what people want these days and it breaks my heart LOL).