H & M and Marni

 I had a few hours free this morning and what did I decide to do? I decided to queue, along with what seemed like hundreds of like minded individuals, over at H and M to await the unveiling of their collaboration with Marni. As far as queues go, it wasn't too bad. I was in line outside the store for about an hour and to prevent general chaos from descending, we were let in by groups of 35.  Once inside we were given 10 minutes inside the designated Marni zone to choose and we were limited to 5 articles.  I realize how crazy this sounds but as I had made it to that point, it seemed even crazier to just up and leave.  I suppose its organized this way so as not to have general chaos but once inside the zone, it was a free for all. People grabbing stuff off the racks, with some becoming really aggressive.

I wanted to take more photos inside but only managed to snap one whilst holding on to my Marni of choice.

Once the ten alloted ten minutes was up, we were literally herded out of the zone to make room for the next set of people. Whew!

Whoever started this trend of designer collaborations with high street brands particularly H&M has to be patting himself in the back now.  Its such a genius idea really. It makes certain designer brands more accessible  while upping the cachet of high street. The thing I realized once I had left the zone and could observe the people to my heart's content is how varied the people inside were. You literally had all sorts of women--young fashionistas, old to be my mother types,  working women  and social wise- I think they came from all strata.  There were a number of women there who looked like they could clearly afford the "real"Marni but had nonetheless been in line and had grabbed stuff for themselves. One woman even did the queue twice!!  Is it because they're Marni fans and as such, will buy at any price? Are they looking for a deal?

I remember last December when Marks and Spencer re-opened people queued 3 hours to get in!  I remember thinking, what a crazy thing to do. And I found myself this morning, a fine one too, after days of rain, standing outside H&M. What makes any of us, otherwise sane and reasonable people, queue outside a store, for clothes? This isn't the first time, nor I think will it be the last.

I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on this one..