Balmain x H&M Collaboration

With the recent announcement of Balmain as the next powerhouse haute couture fashion house set to collaborate with H&M, this upcoming collection (set for release on November 5, 2015) is surely going to warrant much anticipation (similar to the previous guest designer collaborations with Alexander Wang, Isabelle Marant, and Comme des Garcons) from fashion enthusiasts around the world.

Known for their long-standing history of using unconventional fabrics to design pieces for men's classic staple pieces, Balmain has consistently set the tone in displaying an air of luxury to simplistic, clean-cut pieces. With a storied past of well-known head designers, such as Pierre Balmain and Oscar de la Renta, current creative head courtier Olivier Rousteing will be tasked the lofty role of designing a collection that connects the millennials to high fashion, while most importantly, carefully balancing the task of not diluting the brand aesthetic in which Balmain stands for. 

In a constant, push-and-pull struggle to stay relevant in the young millennial population, while staying true to its haute couture roots, iconic luxury brands have constantly needed to reinvent itself to remain a relevant brand in today's fashion business. 

"Instagram is all about a population that is not only the front row of a fashion show. Today it is as important as the front row, having young people looking at your shows, looking at your fashion, and supporting you. It is a new way of communication. It is stronger than magazines - you are not buying your audience, you don't have to be a big advertiser. The fact is I love communicating with people. I love pop culture, and pop, for me, is popular and population."

Termed the "Digital Revolution," many long-standing brands, such as Burberry, Marc Jacobs, Ralph Lauren, and Nike, have needed to successfully revolutionize themselves just enough to keep its core principles at hand, yet satisfying the needs of today's younger generation by stamping a strong digital imprint in its social media outlets in order to continue staying in-scene. Branching out into popular social circles by being constantly seen with/ having their latest brand products seen on the next up-and-coming model celebrities have propelled iconic brands, such as Balmain, with an indubitable presence on social media and pop culture.

Let's take a further look at an example of this by delving into Balmain's use of social media as its frontier platform to tap into the millennial market. 

Excited at the opportunity to possibly purchase Balmain pieces at a much more affordable cost (thank you H&M!), let's revisit some of my favorite looks and must-own pieces from their previous Fall/Winter and pre-Fall collections in anticipation of the new release.

Hopefully a quick scroll through some of these looks will convince you just why I am so excited for this new collaboration to drop soon! (Clean-cut jackets and blazers that are not overdone but of premium quality are so top-notch - don't you agree?) 

Weren't the looks above, just the perfect spring/summer wardrobe inspirations for those breezy mornings turned warm summer days?!

If the upcoming Balmain x H&M collection resembles anything like the collections put out by Balmain in the past (especially the ones with a strong focus on tailored jacket silhouettes), this collaboration may prove to be the best one yet by H&M. Keep an eye out for sneak peeks!