H&MAGEDDON: Survivors Recap Saturday's Lanvin x H&M Launch

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The Lanvin x H&M collaboration launch rocked Chicago like a hurricane over the weekend, and Racked was fortunate enough to meet with a couple of troopers who recounted their experience.

Our intrepid Survivor #1 braved the cold and showed up at 1:30 am on Saturday with a blanket and her boyfriend’s down coat to find herself number 30 in line. "I immediately became chummy with my fellow Lanvinmaniacs and mapped out sales floor attack strategies,” she reminisced. After constantly staring at the watch and fending off queries from curious onlookers for almost 5 hours ("What are you guys waiting for and who is Lan-VEEN?"), her patience paid off: she spotted the H&M regional manager appointing group assignments right when the sun was peeking out. “I was designated Group #2 and was handed a yellow wristband,” she said. “At that point we had forgotten about the freezing cold and were all just trembling with excitement!” Reps from a nearby Starbucks were kind enough to pass out free coffee and croissants to everyone shivering in line. At around the same time, uber-cute commemorative canvas bags (stuffed with scarves) were also distributed to the early birds.
By 8:25 am, Survivor #1 finally infiltrated the special blocked-off area stocked full of Lanvin x H&M goodies. Attentive salespeople circled around, asked shoppers for their sizes, and proceeded to fetch the merchandise from the backroom. The scene inside the store was relatively calm. Here’s the kicker: everyone charged towards the accessories and the clothes and no one cared for the shoes. “I ended up with two dresses, a faux-fur vest, two clutches, a necklace and a broach, and a cardigan for my boyfriend,” she summarized. “In and out within the allotted 15 minutes.”

Survivor #2 got a later start and arrived at 7:30 am. “We really thought we were going to be dead last in line, but it got much longer right before 8:00 am,” he said. “My friend and I were among the first 320 people and received wristbands for Group N at 12:25 pm for the women’s collection.” Lots of sleeping bags were being packed up as antsy shoppers prepared to invade the store. Since the men's collection did not require assigned times, this group rushed in at 8:00 am, and was welcomed by cheering and clapping H&M staffers wearing Lanvin t-shirts with bowties.

Unlike the mostly polite ladies on the first floor, Survivor #2 told us that everyone was packed together on the men’s floor, shoulder-to-shoulder pushing and relentlessly grabbing things. Determined shoppers looted the men’s collection within half hour, and by 8:30 am the salespeople had hauled off the display mannequins and all the racks were stripped bare except for a few being replenished with salvaged dressing room items. “My friend ended up with a pair of shoes, a trench coat, and slacks. All I got was a bowtie.”

Rain, Sleeping in Cars; It's H&M Lanvin-Insanity West Coast Style [Racked National]
Inside H&M Fifth Avenue for the Lanvin Launch [Racked NY]