An advertisement in a Tokyo railway station, courtesy of The New York Times

Positive Energy: Comme at 40 (New York Times)
“Comme des Garçons is marking its 40th anniversary by bringing out a guerrilla-style, temporary brand called “Black” that epitomizes the style, the inventiveness and the originality of its founder.”

Luxury market faces turbulence: Hermès (Reuters)
“Hermès believes turbulence could hit the global luxury goods industry for the next two years and has put some expansion plans on hold, the French fashion and leather goods group said on Monday.”

Oliver Sweeney rescued (Drapers)
“Amery Capital and footwear supply guru Tim Cooper have bought premium footwear brand Oliver Sweeney out of administration.”

Escada says to make bond swap offer in two weeks (Reuters)
“Escada plans to offer bondholders a new bond worth less than the face value of its current debt in about two weeks, the stricken luxury fashion house said on Monday.”

Pringle to show at London Fashion Week (Drapers)
“Pringle, the Scottish knitwear brand, is set to leave the Milan catwalks to show during London Fashion Week this September.”

Comme des Garçons for H&M

TOKYO, Japan – Back in September, H&M experienced one of the most successful Japanese market entries in recent history, with its first store in Ginza drawing incredible mass media coverage and never-ending lines. Now two months later, H&M will open its next Japanese store on November 8 in the youth fashion district of Harajuku.

Japanese customers lucky enough to make it through the long queue on Saturday morning will be the first worldwide to be able to buy the latest limited-edition guest-collaboration line: H & M COMME des GARÇONS. For the rest of the world, H&M Comme des Garçons will debut on November 13 in more than 200 H&M stores around the world.

To learn more, we sat down first with H&M’s Creative Advisor Margareta Van Den Bosch and Brand & New Business Director Jörgen Andersson in Tokyo to talk about the Rei Kawakubo collaboration.

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TOKYO, Japan and STOCKHOLM, Sweden – Some H&M collaborations of the past (Roberto Cavalli, Viktor & Rolf) were more memorable for the pre-launch buzz and subsequent hysteria around the world than they were for the clothes themselves. So ever since Rei Kawakubo announced her upcoming Comme des Garcons collection for H&M, fashionistas have been wondering whether Kawakubo will bring some of the best of Japanese avant-garde fashion to the masses without diluting her signature style.

Well the wait is almost over. W Magazine wrote about the collaboration in its September issue and on Friday, Fashionista.com posted the first photos of the complete collection. In typical lightening speed, the blogosphere has been passing judgment and at first glance, it seems many CDG fans are underwhelmed by Kawakubo’s efforts, while mainstream customers don’t quite get it.

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