Lanvin x H&M – The Experience

11/22/10

{The window display that teased us all night}
At 10:30pm on Friday night, Joanne and I went to camp out at the Lanvin x H&M launch in Vancouver. Yes, you heard right: 10:30pm. We initially hadn’t planned on going until 3 or 4AM, but a tweet that informed me that there were already people there at 4PM alarmed us a little so we went much earlier than planned. It was freezing and a blizzard was expected that night, but when we got there easily 30 people were already ahead of us. Tents, chairs, air mattresses: you name it and they were present. We set up camp with nothing but our ugly down parkas, a thin sleeping bag (which my boyfriend told me to bring last minute, thank goodness) and hopeful attitudes, then sat, sat and…. sat. About an hour later it started snowing… hard. The hired security guards handed out red H&M umbrellas to the crowd and so our side of the street looked like a sea of scarlet. And so we continued to wait, with lots of passerbys (many intoxicated) asking us what we were waiting for, following up the question of whether we were seriously lining up for clothes after our response. After a few of those, nobody in line bothered to answer anymore and it probably appeared that this bunch of poorly dressed (guess it can be attributed to the cold), retail-crazy individuals were more than a little bit rude.


{Around 3AM… chatting with the bf to pass time}

It took a while, but morning did end up coming and finally the wristbands were handed out. After accounting for late coming line-budgers we were to be the 3rd group in: 8:40AM. Immediately after receiving our wristbands we went to Tim Horton’s and warmed up for 1.5 hours, trying our best not to fall asleep. At 8:15 we decided to check out the men’s section, which was basically a free for all, to scope out items for our guys. We were shocked to see that there were literally only a handful of the blue shirts and 3 brown newsboy hats left, along with a few “scarves” (if you could call them that). I guess they underestimated the men! From what I heard, the sunglasses were the first to go and were by far the most sought after item.

At 8:30 we headed back to the fenced off women’s section and eagerly waited our turn to go in. Aside from an annoying bunch of Chinese girls behind us who kept giving us dirty stares to check if we had the magic tickets under our sweater-covered wrists (I moved my hand up to see if they really were, and sure enough their eyes followed like a dog following a treat) and who later pushed past us to enter, the long awaited 15-minute experience inside went pretty smoothly as a whole.

And what did I end up with? The coveted red statement necklace and earrings, plus the ruffled skirt in both colours (still deciding whether to keep one or both). I had my heart set on the leather gloves but no such luck: only one pair left in size large. I regret not getting the cascading ruffle dress because it was 100% silk and actually quite good quality but I just couldn’t justify the hefty $200 price tag, even if it was sort of “Lanvin”. As for the yellow dress that I so admired, I didn’t even end up trying it on! Looking back, I think I was just too tired from a night of zero shut eye to think clearly.


{one of my precious spoils of war!}

Will I do it again? As I told Joanne, only in the unlikely events that Valentino Garavani or Oscar de la Renta were to ever do a collection (or if Alber Elbaz decides to grace us with another one). And if that were to ever happen, I would probably be one of those crazies with a tent set up and foldable chairs in hand. It’s important to be prepared! Thanks bestie for being crazy with me!

Ironically, my favourite purchase yesterday was a non-Lanvin-for-H&M related piece with a gorgeous gold and black brocade print perfect for the holidays (for a mere fraction of the cost of a Lanvin dress, nonetheless). Click here to see a preview. Now to find a place to wear it to!

Note: Sorry for the lack of photos in this post, especially in store! Again, I was just too tired after getting in. Slept like a dog from 11AM all the way through to 6PM on Saturday.

16 comments on “Lanvin x H&M – The Experience”

  1. I can’t believe you camped all night for clothes :) I went to H&M yesterday to check out the collection and noboday was interested in his clothes. That is the advantage of being in a small town. People has no idea who Lavin is :) Anyway, I tried on a couple of dresses but didn’t end up getting anything. I am glad you are able to get a few pieces for your collection. Great story!

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  4. I’m so glad (and jealous!) that you were able to get something. I came home with nothing… but I did go late, so it was to be expected. I really wanted the ruffled skirt and I think my store sold out almost immediately. What do you think of the sizing? Thinking of trying to buy one off eBay if it’s not too $$$ but I’m worried about fit.

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  5. woah i cant believe you really did queue up for the h&m lanvin !
    my friend in LA came in at 3am ! I cant believe how hectic it would have been on the front of the doors !

    glad that you got some pieces though :)

    glisters and blisters

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  6. Aww, go you! I do think clothes (fancy, lovely, designer clothes) would be one of the few things I would camp out for, haha. I’m glad you were able to find a few things! The necklace is so fun!

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  7. jen!!!!!! if u do decide to give back one of the skirts can i buy it from u? what size did u get? cause i have big hips so we might not be the same sizes.

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  8. I was so impressed when I saw on Twitter that you’d headed out to line up even before me…and I’m in an earlier time zone here in Toronto! Sounds like you did amazingly though – yay! Can’t wait to see how you style your pieces…especially the necklace and earrings.

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  9. I was anxiously awaiting this post! LOL

    I cannot believe you camped out either! You are brave!!! I am not too impressed with their stuff- way too OUT THERE for me :)

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  10. oh i can’t wait to see your Lanvin finds!! it sounds like so much fun and i’m glad you were able to snag some good items. that necklace is gorgeous!

    cuteandlittle.com

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  11. OMG, I think I would do such a thing if Galliano were designing something. But still, congrats for resisting. I only get this crazy at concerts. And the necklace is awesome!!

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  13. wow! i dont think i can camp out for anything.. i just need to have my sleep and be able to sleep lol.

    Janelle
    http://barestudy.blogspot.com

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  15. Well, at least you did scored some nice things so it wasn’t all for nothing! And you can tell this story to the grandkids when you pass those pieces on as family heirlooms hehe :)

    Reply

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