To everyone who's queuing - or already are - for the H&M Margiela collaboration which hits stores
in Singapore tomorrow - May the odds ever be in your favor.
Perhaps this would do nothing to deter you from the impending situation of having to wait hours on
end in line to pry 'remakes' off the shelves, squeezing alongside handbags in your faces and leaving
credit cards bled dry.
Pardon me for being a wet blanket on an already rainy season in 'Sunny Singapore' - I've always had
the detest for high street collaborations. Few make it out 'successful', and fewer actually consist of
brilliant ideas that compliment and reflect the idea behind each brand.
Margiela had always gifted us with quality minimals - that which looked simple and plain, but yet
complex and thoughtful when delved deeper into. H&M, however, has a reputation for thoughtless
replicas produced in mass with terrible quality to go along.
Contrasting brand ethos aside - to discover that the campaign itself was 'replicated' adds to the level
of disbelief one can have with regards to creative ethics that H&M holds. The original campaign in
2007 can be seen here. (click)
MMM held a special place amongst all other labels i've looked up to. Before he left, that is. Every
collection had always something different, some item so well thought out that it would blow my mind
and force me to re-think, and re-discover the awe of simplicity and the huge difference of what a
selective removal of details can do. It's the omission of the deemed necessity that awes.
I speak not with scorn nor with a false sense of superiority over people who purchase collaborative
releases from fashion labels. I'm not a rich faggot sitting behind pots of gold laughing at everyone
who has to save to purchase branded goods. I save - hard. Still, my wardrobe is not flooded with
luxury items overflowing past it's brim. I own only a few of Margiela pieces. But to see what which
I held high regards for be destroyed in a €48m deal breaks my heart to know that the takeover from
Diesel would only continue to drive the brand into it's grave due to the hard reality of profits and
consumer demand.
What happened to the joy of patiently saving to buy what which you hold dear to - all is but replaced
with the endless want of a fast-food-esque format which appeals to every espect of one's lifestyle.
There's no room left for sentiment, thought and originality. Having something once revered and
respected being dissolved into a forty dollar jeans should not be considered a collaboration, nor a
remake of sorts. To remake something takes effort. To replicate an archival, iconic piece requires
the process to involve much more - the passion, the intent, the idea behind it's sketches and drafts -
nothing renders a creation more perfect than the originality that lies nestled in it's form.
You've got this jacket which was painstakingly handmade in Italy years ago. Someone spent hours,
or days, drafting and re-drafting it's fit and material, resulting in something so timeless it lasted a few
generations.
Recently, you took it to China and had it remade to exact proportions.
But hey, what's on the inside?
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