Isabel Marant pour H&M- my story

 

When I was 13 I went to Rome with my mum and grandma for a girls weekend. We had a brilliant time, and as the trip was in early December my grandma said she wanted to buy me my Christmas present there so that I could choose it myself and so that it was a little different and a bit more special. Inside a cool little shop I found a chunky knit scarf- striped in black, charcoal and hot almost neon pink with little tassels. I was in love. And that, ladies and gentlemen was my first Isabel Marant experience- 9 years ago! The love affair has continued ever since. Marant is so much more than just a label, it’s a lifestyle, it’s cool, quirky, individual and extremely wearable and accessible all in one. 1 part gap year student, 2 parts young French rock chick, 1 part sophisticated lady- all in one. Beaded jackets, high top trainers, floaty blouses and killer boots- if I could only ever wear one label for the rest of my life, Marant would have it all for me- bohemian without being too grungy and sophisticated without being too minimalist.

So you can imagine my utter delight upon hearing about the H&M collaboration. I started carving out my plan once I’d seen all the images from the collection, carefully budgeting and working out how early I’d have to wake up to grab a slice of the action. I, luckily only live 1 minute (literally sixty seconds- I’m not exaggerating) away from one of the H&M stores that was stocking the collection, so that certainly made my life easier!

I woke up at 5am, and scolded myself for being too over keen, I went back to sleep until 6:45am, at which point I jumped out of bed, brushed my teeth, washed my face, flung a jumper and jeans on, a coat, scarf and a fedora to hide my messy hair and un made up face and out the door I bounded to see that there were already nearly 20 people in the queue! Not too bad, but still more than I was expecting. I quickly made friends with a the girls in front and behind me in the queue and my good friend Ainur arrived at 7:30am. After getting our wristbands and super cool friendship bracelet type pieces of string I went off for a coffee with my new found friends. Our time slot was the second one, so from 9:25-9:35am. After coffee, we made our way back to the store five minutes before our allocated slot and were greeted with nothing but big smiles from staff. Zero sign of chaos- it was amazing. We made our way into the teeny tiny little Isabel Marant collection section and shopped away! No elbowing, no fighting or screaming and absolutely nothing but super helpful sales assistants and calm.

All the clothes were beautifully hung and folded- no signs of earlier eager shoppers. It was immaculate. The first item I went for was the ubiquitous printed tea dress that Rosie Huntington Whitely and Kirsten Dunst have been seen in- I managed to find it in the right size- hurrah. That was for my mum, I then also made sure I grabbed her the blouse she wanted. Once that was done I beelined for the fringed boots, “NO” I cried. “THEY DON’T HAVE MY SIZE LEFT”. And then a lovely SA came over  (giving me a slightly awkward look, most probably due to my comical outburst) “what size are you after?” “39!!”, “no problem”. RESULT. Boots in hand, I then grabbed a sweatshirt, a skirt of the same print as the dress, some printed jeans, and a little black dress. Upon leaving I picked up a pair of the sequin leggings, before deciding that I didn’t really want them. I then grabbed a pair of the sequin pointy shoes instead and some tassel earrings and off I went to pay. Phew! All the right sizes, everything that was on my list (and maybe a little more!).

After trying it all on at home, I was relieved to see that nothing needed to go back- everything fit perfectly, the quality is amazing and I couldn’t be happier! The experience was so much fun, I only had to queue for an hour, in which time I met some lovely people and I had a seriously fun time! I’ve just seen that the boots are now selling for over £400 on ebay (they’re actually only £149)! Needless to say, I shan’t be taking mine off for the forseeable future!