No, that is not Lanvin (pronounced lon-vohn) that is Alber Elbaz who is the artistic director of Lanvin. It would be easy to say he is an absolute design genius. Isn't he just the cutest little teddy bear you've ever seen? Well Mr. Elbaz decided to team up with H&M, which is a fast-fashion company based out of Sweden. When I heard this news a few months ago I freaked my freak. I love Lanvin, but sadly can not afford their beautiful designs, so knowing that I could get Mr. Elbaz's designs for a more reasonable price was the best news I had ever heard.
Like many past designers that have teamed up with H&M I knew this collection would most likely sell out in it's first day. Because of this I had the brilliant idea to camp out the night before to make sure I got every piece I was dying for. Now, of course Ann would never let me do this alone. She had the irrational thought that I would be killed or something like that. So she decided to send Dominic up to spend the night with me. I must say this was a brilliant idea because with Dom comes instant entertainment.
I arrived at H&M at about 2:30 on Friday afternoon (the collection didn't come out until 8 o'clock Saturday morning). I was not shocked to see that people were already in line, but I was shocked that there were only about 6 other people in front of me. Right then I knew my prayers had been answered and that I would not be leaving the store empty handed. And so I sat and sat and sat and sat. And was asked more times then I can possible count what I was waiting in line for. I cant even tell you how annoying that got. I think the worst part was the crazy looks everyone gave me. If they don't want to wait all night for Lanvin then they don't have to, but I wanted to. I wished they would of kept their judgement to themselves and kept on their merry way. Fashion is my life, my dreams, my passion I believe if there was something they cared about so much they would of waited in line all night for it too.
Then it started to rain, yes rain, precipitation falling from the sky. Now I knew this was coming, but when it arrived I wanted to cry. Sitting in the rain when it's about 45 degrees outside is not my idea of fun, yet I was willing to do anything for my fair share of Lanvin. Fortunately it only rained for about an hour and a half or 2 hours. And I was lucky enough to sit next to 2 very nice boys who decided to make a fort like structure for themselves and let me sit under it with them. What nice boys right? This is what it looked like.
So I was very happy that Dom got to come hang out with me, but sadly he couldn't arrive till about 11:30 Friday night. I therefore, had to sit for 9 hours by myself. It went by surprisingly fast, which made me very happy. When Dom arrived though I was beyond happy. It was as if I had been lost on a deserted island for days and was finally seeing someone I knew. So Dom arrived and guess what we did? We sat and sat and sat and sat. And it seems like before we knew it the sun had risen and it was time for them to pass out the coveted wrist bands we had been waiting all night for. Dark blue was the most desired color because it meant you were allowed in the first group that got to shop (just a side note because these launches can get so crazy and they don't want anyone getting hurt they only allowed groups of 20 people, that's where the wristbands come into play, at a time into a certain roped off section to shop for 15 minutes).
And yes I got the dark blue bracelet. I literally think I let out a little scream when they put the wristband on me. This might have been due to my utter lack of sleep or just sheer joy. After we got our wristbands we had to wait another hour before we got to go and shop. The way the store was set up the Men's collection was free range and you could shop there as long as possible, yet with them Women's, like I explained earlier you could only shop for 15 minutes. So 8 o'clock rolled around and we were let into the store. There were a pair of sunglasses I was lusting over and knew I needed to own. Dom had charmed one of them saleswomen earlier to get all the inside information. She told him that there were only 17 pairs of sunglasses in the entire store, 17! Since I knew these were going to be the first to go Dom and I beelined it to grab ourselves a pair. I am not kidding you when I say that I grabbed my pair of sunglasses and maybe 5 seconds later every pair was gone. I had never seen anything like that. It was absolutely fascinating.
After I grabbed my sunglasses I made my way up to the Women's section to get everything I wanted. When I walked into the roped off section it was madness, literal madness. People running every which way with arms full of clothes. With a small amount of embarrassment I must admit the minute I stepped foot in that area I sprinted as fast as I could to snatch my coveted items. If someone had video taped me I would say I probably looked like a chicken with it's head cut off. I was like a kid in a candy shop.
I am happy to say that I was lucky enough to get every item I had dreamed of. I am completely filled with joy. It is easy to say I am obsessed! OBSESSED I tell you! I cant wait to wear each thing I got. I feel like I'm part of some secret club who got an awesome deal on designer duds. As Dom and I made our way to the shuttle that would take us back to my dorm we reminisced over our Lanvin experience. We both agreed it was like an absolute dream. We couldn't believe it happened. The 18 hours I waited and 8 Dom waited seemed like they were over in minutes. I think it would be safe to say I attribute this to the severe lack of sleep, but I felt like I was exhausted, full of energy, and had like I had just found the cure for cancer all at the same time. And now I will share with you all my delicious goodies.
Isn't it all so much fun. I love it all so so so much. And for about the first 30 of us that stood in line we got a free canvas bag.
And while I must say last weekend was absolutely exhausting and I am just now starting to feel like my normal self it was the most amazing weekend I have ever experienced. It was like nothing I had ever done before and the journey was exhilarating. I strongly advise anyone and everyone to take part in an experience like this if they find that something they absolutely love and couldn't imagine living their life without. I know for certain that if the next designer H&M decides to collaborate with I love as much as I love Lanvin I will be camped outside all night long. Next time however, I will bring blankets and wont be afraid to tell all those who think I am crazy for waiting all night for clothes that they can take their nasty words and mean looks somewhere else because fashion is what I live for and what I love and one uncomfortable night is nothing I cant live through.
I apologize for my lack of posting. School has been crazy, but I promise to try to be more consistant. I hope everyone is doing fabulous. Peace & Love.