Nov 6, 2012

Maison Martin Margiela for H&M: Menswear (Kuala Lumpur Preview)


Supposed you have read our review on the Women’s wear collection.

Next stop is the Men’s Wear section. (Yeay!)

Beautifully hanged next to the glass wall overlooking the panoramic view of Bukit Bintang were a rail full of amazing pieces of outerwear made of shearling, faux fur, wool and leather - of the most iconic ‘belt jacket’ from the 2006 Artisanal collection.



I had my eyes on the camel coat ever since the first image of the campaign popped out in a magazine earlier last month hence wasted no time in trying out the article immediately. To my delight, the sample size 50 immaculately fit my figure. On the photos below you can see how the inverted collar was brilliantly constructed adding a little panache to what could have been just another boring winter coat in camel color that every man should have. I am not quite a fan of the protruding seam lines in contrasting white thread across the shoulder line but will definitely consider acquiring this amazing piece nonetheless.


To my surprise, the collection is produced using high quality fabric with matching aptitude of craftsmanship. Below jumper used an actual Alpaca hair (albeit mixed with normal wool), billed a luxurious kind of wool. Although the quality and the size of the fiber is probably much lesser than what you can find in the real designer deal (quality for wool fiber is determined by the diameter of the fiber, in micrometer – and I do not own a superhuman set of eyes so…)


Then there were an array of denim pants but none were plain and classic. Each of them were painted (or at least have the ‘painted effect’ on them), reversed or even mutated containing a hybrid of denim waist with formal trousers’ legs.


The shoes come in a shape of high top sneakers, top-notch quality loafers (very well made!) and ankle boots. Sneakers come in two colors both are made and lined with leather with rubber sole. I tried one of the loafers and I can vouch that the shoes are beautifully constructed. Price is a tad too high for an H&M collection but I can hardly remember any collaboration that matched to the level of craftsmanship this collection has to offer.


The accessories are rather interesting as well. There’s the mirrored scarf (sold as a separate apart from the one attached to a tuxedo jacket), faceless wristwatch bracelet, leather wrist strap and leather belts with chunky buckles.


We spent quite an afternoon in the showroom. My opinion, this has got to be the best collaboration collection H&M has ever had to date. Perhaps the fact that every article is a resurrection of the archive helps boost the appeal. But the real challenge is the price point. A real fan might have no problem to surrender their wallet comes the launch date (provided they are not one of those neophobic loyalists) but I do not think it will bode well with the masses (who is the real target market for the Swedish brand). Yes it comes in limited quantity but do they have big enough crowd for that?

I guess that is what makes fashion so interesting. We’ll just have to wait come November 15th.
If you are not queuing, re-think! If you are, we hope you are well prepared for the occasion and happy hunting!

Maison Martin Margiela for H&M collection will be out November 15th, 2012. 
Available exclusively at H&M Lot 10, Bukit Bintang.

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