H&M links with Erdem and Baz Luhrmann for latest designer collaboration

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jul 13, 2017

H&M’s next autumn/winter designer collaboration will be with one of London Fashion Week’s most popular names, Erdem.

And there’s another newsworthy element too with the company commissioning Baz Luhrmann to “bring the collection to life through his unique storytelling," which means a film it has released that gives hints of what the collection will contain. His work will also form the cornerstone of the marketing around the collection come this autumn.

Debuting on November 2, the collection will also include Canadian-Turkish designer Erdem Moralıoğlu's first ever foray into menswear.

We have few clues yet as to exactly what he will come up with apart from a few back views in the Luhrmann film that inlcude eveningwear and a faux fur coat. The award-winning designer is known for his historical inspiration and silhouettes and his use of occasionwear-focused richly embellished and printed materials, so it will be interesting to see what he does with daywear.

H&M dropped a few more hints saying he would “reflect and reinterpret the design themes from some of his most celebrated collections, playing with the prints, textiles and delicate craftsmanship that have made his name.”

Moralıoğlu said the collaboration would be a chance “to explore my work on a whole new scale” and said he looked forward to working with Luhrmann, “one of the most important storytellers of our time.”

The retail giant’s Creative Advisor Ann-Sofie Johansson said the designer has “created an enchanting world full of beauty, delicacy and rich details.”

The launch of H&M’s November designer link-ups have become one of the biggest dates on the consumer fashion calendar since they started back in 2004.  

The firm has worked with a host of the biggest names including Karl Lagerfeld, Viktor & Rolf, Alexander Wang, Jimmy Choo, Comme des Garçons Stella McCartney, Balmain, Roberto Cavalli, Isabel Marant, Sonia Rykiel, Versace, Marni, Kenzo, Matthew Williamson and Alber Elbaz when he was at Lanvin.

The women’s collections are regular fast sellouts with familiar features of each launch including queues forming outside the biggest city centre stores, H&M website crashes and pieces appearing on eBay at inflated prices almost immediately after the launch.