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| The launch event for the Alexander Wang X H&M collection, held in New York in October. |
The entire world went a bit nuts on Thursday over the debut of the Alexander Wang by H&M collection. The website crashed. On Twitter, the hashtag #alexanderwangxhm was styling. Consumers waiting to buy Mr. Wang’s funky sports bras and leggings had been handed color-coded tags with time slots. Desperate buyers were advised to go on auction web sites, where merchandise was already for sale, albeit at reportedly crazy prices. It was an instance study in creating anticipation.
And today? Is it all over for those of us who did not get in line at 8 a. m. on Thursday?
Well, I continued the H&M website on Friday morning, and though two backpacks, one duffel and some socks were sold out, everything else - the scuba tops, the made dresses, the quilted leather jackets and the ankle boots - was available. Furthermore , i checked eBay, and while there are some inflated numbers, the prices don’t seem that uncontrollable.
So what exactly happened? Was it a case of viral madness that covered, protected reality (kind of like the whole “Alex From Target” thing)? Does it imply that in the context of limited-edition collaborations, the early bird does not necessarily get the earthworm (or the reflective leggings, as it may be)?
Increasingly, I have come to think that, such as the film world with its dependence on opening weekends, such one-off collaborations are all concerning the debuts: who gets to see it first, who gets the bragging rights of wearing this first, the ceremony of the first day. We have all become complicit in the myth-making of the moment.
Maybe it’s time to take a breath.
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