Collaboration Lines: Do Buyers Really Care?

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Roberto Cavalli for H&M

Jonathan Saunders for Target

Comme des Garcons for H&M

We’ve all seen the clothing and accessory quality at Target and H&M. Cheap fabrics. Plastic or malleable metal buttons. Torn seams. Awkward fitting. Yes, occasionally you do find that specific piece that looks great on you and others expect you paid a heap of money for, but we all know how rare that can be. 

So, with all of these recent designer collaborations with what i’ll call “cheaper stores,” what exactly is their point? Are designers simply trying to make their typically expensive clothing lines more affordable for the fashion conscious crowd? Have Target and H&M paid the designers a hefty sum just so they can attach a brand-name to their usually generic clothing? More importantly, are the labels all that important?  We already know that the brand-loving fashionistas are going to strip shelves clean on the November 13th release of the Comme des Garcons by H&M line, regardless of price or quality, just for the sake of the label. But do other fashionable buyers even care?

People who love fashion for the sake of fashion usually buy because they like the piece, not the brand. And even if they happen to be brand chasers, who honestly wants to buy a collaboration of their favorite designer if it doesn’t even correlate that particular label’s aesthetic? 

If you ask my opinion, I would rather pay the money for the high quality and unique garments of a specific designer. The fact that it is cheap doesn’t matter because it is 9 times out of 10 exactly that, cheap. And don’t forget, If Jonathan Saunders is selling his bold geometric sweater dress at Target, everyone who’s anyone in the Target vicinity will own it. Before you know it, the whole world is going to be one huge common, unflattering, poorly stitched ball of Jonathan Saunders sympathy for people who can’t afford his real stuff.