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Fashion for the Masses

Going from Catwalk to Catfights

By Damien McGuinness in Berlin

Last year, catfights broke out in H&M shops around the world as shoppers fought over haute couture meister Karl Lagerfeld's limited collection. This week, the Swedish retailer risked violence again with a new range of items by Stella McCartney.

There is something quite frightening about the feverish glint in a fashionable woman's eye when she spots a bargain. It was a look recognizable to anyone who happened to be shopping in in downtown Berlin or any of H&M's 400 stores worldwide worldwide on Thursday morning.

As soon as doors in Berlin's Friedrichstrasse branch opened, about 50 well-dressed women, who had been waiting in the cold outside, stormed the racks for the one-off women's wear collection by British designer Stella McCartney. Within 10 minutes, the shelves had already been swept clear and had to be re-filled with new stock.

"We are not surprised by the rush," said the store's manager Marc Göllnitz. "There has been a lot of publicity from ads on television and in the cinema, as well as information in the press, so people knew it was happening."

But what is surprising is just how much customers knew. Talking to shoppers waiting in line at the fitting rooms, each laden down with about a dozen items, most had a clear piece in mind, mostly spotted in one of the campaign's hip commercials . "I'm here for the wrap-around dress, which I saw in the cinema trailer. Unfortunately it's already off the shelves," said 30-something Petra Meyers.

Although things weren't quite as chaotic as the opening of Karl Lagerfeld at H&M last November -- when half of the total collection was sold on the first day -- clothes were definitely flying out the door. According to shop assistants, customers who had come specifically to buy Stella McCartney items were spending between 400 and 600 euros ($470-$700) each.

"They are grabbing everything in their size they can find, and buying things without even trying them on," said cashier Semra Bagit. It also seemed that H&M had improved its organization since the mayhem of the Lagerfeld opening, when stocks ran out faster than expected and customers ended up fighting over the remaining pieces.

Class for the mass

Last year's collaboration with Lagerfeld was H&M's first foray into what has since become known as "masstige." While the resulting collection was criticised by both customers and fashion journalists as disappointingly shoddy in quality, the mass hysteria which it sparked off certainly benefited H&M, with sales for that month rocketing by 24%. But the real benefits for the retailer of cooperating with top designers are more nebulous than increasing instant revenue.

"For us it's a way of surprising the customer and proving that good design is not a matter of price," said Liv Asarnoj, spokeswoman for H&M. Essentially, the company is hoping to make the brand edgier and give it a touch of cheap designer chic. It's a direction which is being helped by new more up-market lines, such as the latest premium denim ranges. Along with the designer co-operations, such new lines demonstrate a definite desire to go slightly more upscale in price and quality. And that can increase the company's credibility above other mass retailers.

But what's the benefit of masstige for the designers? Surely they are lowering themselves by attaching their names to an H&M label? Lagerfeld, who likes to think of himself as a bit of an iconoclast, certainly got a kick out of shocking the snotty world of über-fashion by working with the cheap and cheerful Swedes. While McCartney, who prefers to present herself as socially involved, almost made it sound like she was bringing democracy to Iraq when she said in a statement that working with H&M would be "one of the most exciting and innovative ways to introduce my clothes to a broader range of women." Naturally, for both designers, the extra cash and publicity that comes with working alongside a company worth some $7.3 billion, will hardly have been a problem either.

But what are the clothes like?

According to H&M's spokeswoman Asarnoj the cooperation with McCartney was also a mass-produced product. The retailer used focus groups to pick which desiger to work with. "Stella McCartney is the person customers told us they wanted," she said. "She's a fantastic designer, with very feminine, sharp-tailored easy-to-wear shapes." Fortunately, that just happens to be an image popular on both on the streets and the catwalks right now.

And judging from customers' reactions in Berlin, McCartney's new collection has been a success. By the end of thursday, the store's manager Göllnitz said he was extremely pleased with sales. "It was good though that, unlike last year, there were no riotous scenes of customers fighting over goods," he added. "The ladies all behaved themselves and agreed together who should have what."