forevermore79
17.09.04, 18:30
Z dzisiejszego WWD- Lagerfeld zaprojektowal damska kolekcje dostepnych cenowo
ubran dla sieci H&M ( niektore wzory maja byc unisex). Wydarzenie wspieraja
perfumy unisex stworzone przez Unilever ( czyli wlasciciela Lagerfeld
Parfums) i H&M- beda miec nuty czekolady i chleba, czyli zabronionych w
diecie karla produktow :-) Ciekawy zapach chyba i fajna cena- 20 euro za
100ml.
"PARIS — Here it comes: Karl for all mankind.
Tonight, Swedish fashion giant Hennes & Mauritz will lift the curtain on its
hotly anticipated Karl Lagerfeld for H&M collection at a party atop the
Pompidou Centre modern art museum here.
Priced from $19.90 for a T-shirt up to $149 for a wool-cashmere coat, the
line — which will cover everything from women’s and men’s wear to a fragrance
and accessories — is bound to generate enormous attention when it hits stores
Nov. 12.
But in a twist on the burgeoning “masstige” phenomenon, H&M’s marketing plan
is based on “mass-clusivity,” which means Lagerfeld’s chic jersey skirts,
narrow-sleeved jackets and tuxedo shirts will be sold in only about half the
company’s 1,000 doors — less than previously projected — to give the line a
more exclusive cachet.
Meanwhile, the international advertising push to trumpet the collaboration is
emblematic of both Lagerfeld’s stature and H&M’s ambitions: massive
billboards and a mini film starring the designer that will hit the airwaves
in the days leading up to deliveries.
Swedish director Johan Renck, the man behind videos for Madonna and
commercials for Nike, wrapped up four days of filming last weekend in Paris.
It culminated with an all-day shoot at the Bristol hotel with Lagerfeld, a
gaggle of supermodels and scores of extras.
The spot, two minutes long in some markets, will play with the shock factor
of a world-famous couturier moonlighting at a mass chain: “Karl, Karl, is it
true?” a distraught middle-aged man bellows at Lagerfeld across a crowded
restaurant, having just learned the incongruous news.
“Of course it’s true,” an unruffled Lagerfeld responds from his candelabra-
laden table.
“But it’s cheap!” the man, dressed in a velvet smoking jacket, insists
incredulously.
“What a depressing word,” Lagerfeld snipes back. “It’s all about taste.”
And Lagerfeld assured he applied his full-strength design sensibility to the
H&M project, basing his 30-piece collection for women and men on his
Lagerfeld Gallery concept and his personal penchant for sleek tailoring,
white shirts and touches of hardware.
“The work process is the same for expensive clothes or inexpensive clothes,”
he said in an exclusive interview between takes. “I thought it should be a
strong graphic statement. There’s hardly any color. They’re very simple,
basic items, but ones I think are right for modern life.”
In fact, Lagerfeld said he was given only one design directive he could
easily agree with: No Chanel.
“They never said, ‘Make me a commercial jacket.’ I did what I wanted,” he
said. “And I must say, designing it and doing the campaign — even promoting
it — has been fun.”
To be sure, the Lagerfeld collaboration marks a watershed moment for H&M,
which is bound to attract a new fashion-informed audience — perhaps even a
few luxury snobs — thanks to the joint Lagerfeld label.
“I think you have to go [to the store]. It’s too interesting to not check it
out,” asserted Jörgen Andersson, H&M’s marketing director. “This will be the
Christmas gift from H&M to our customers.”
While some might view tapping a big-name designer as a shift in strategy for
the $6.2 billion, fast-fashion behemoth, Andersson described it as simply a
new expression of its “democratic” ethos.
“The business idea of H&M is fashion and quality at the best price,” he
explained. “We believe…good fashion and good design should be available to
anyone, no matter how much money you make or where you live.
“For me, [Karl Lagerfeld for H&M] is the ultimate proof of the pudding. Why
pay a fortune for a great jacket when you can pay 70 euros [or $85 at current
exchange]?”
For Lagerfeld, the feeling is mutual.
“[H&M] is a fashion phenomenon and I like to be a part of those things,” he
said with his characteristic understatement. “It’s part of my job. It’s the
modern thing to do. Also, I like the idea of my name being used on a broad
scale.”
While he’s never scoured the racks of an H&M outlet himself, Lagerfeld said
he’s long admired the brand’s advertising, which juxtaposes luxurious fashion
images with the surprise of a low-price sticker. He also has noticed young
women in the design studios of Fendi, Chanel and Lagerfeld Gallery wearing
affordable but striking H&M pieces.
As for the men’s wear, one of the surprising elements of the collaboration,
Lagerfeld said it sprang more from his belief that “clothes like sweaters and
jeans have no sex until someone puts it on” than any desire to compete with
his buddy, Hedi Slimane of Dior Homme fame.
To wit: He rendered jackets unisex by having a cuff link-like button and
chain closure rather than making some fasten on the left and others on the
right.
“There’s a solution for everything,” he quipped.
Elsewhere, the collection has a dressy, holiday bent (although H&M hopes it
sells long before Christmas), with many cocktail dresses — some hemmed in
organza, others trimmed in lace. Accessories — including the Terminator-esque
sunglasses Lagerfeld favors — retail from $9.90 for a ring to $69.90 for a
leather bag.
The fragrance, a joint venture with Lagerfeld’s fragrance licensee, Unilever,
also was a Lagerfeld impulse. Dubbed “Liquid Karl,” the unisex scent has
notes of bread and chocolate and is expected to retail for about $24.50, or
20 euros.
Outlining the marketing plan for the launch, Andersson said H&M pared back
the distribution to 500 locations from 800, deciding to offer the Lagerfeld
line only in its most high-profile locations.
“We didn’t want to do huge, huge quantities,” he added. “We asked
ourselves, ‘How do you mass market something but with the feeling of
exclusivity?’”
However, everything about the advertising is large-scale, realized in
collaboration with Paris-based art director Donald Schneider. Explaining the
length of the television commercial, Andersson said, “H&M and Karl Lagerfeld
together — the whole thing is just too big to put into 20 or 30 seconds.”
Ditto for the outdoor ad images, lensed by Lagerfeld and starring himself and
model Erin Wasson. H&M deemed bus shelters too puny, and are opting instead
for large-format billboards and building wraps.
Although H&M declined to provide figures, market sources and analysts
estimate $10 million is being put behind the Lagerfeld project. H&M spends
about $190 million a year on advertising.
H&M plans to air the Lagerfeld commercial in all markets except North
America, where its store count is low, Andersson noted. He said the emphasis
there would be “print and public relations.” The Lagerfeld collection will be
available in about 19 of the company’s 70 U.S. locations. The media plan also
calls for cinema, radio, daily newspapers, magazines and Internet
advertising, customized to each of the 20 countries where H&M has stores.
Although H&M has long been inter
