A mandatory post on Anna Dello Russo at H&M!
After being completely traumatised by the way Marni’s collection at H&M was dealt with all the way back in March, I couldn’t face anything to do with queuing up ever again. But like any other person interested in fashion, I was instantly drawn to this collection. If there’s one thing I truly admire about Anna Dello Russo’s style, it’s her maximalist take on jewellery and accessories. H&M nailed it with this collection – all the pieces really do look like they were taken out of Anna’s jewellery box.
I did not get up early and brave any H&M – I actually had to go to work! However, I managed a sneaky visit to the H&M that’s near where I work during my lunch break – I was so relieved to see that there was no need to get any stupid little wristband and that a few of us only had to wait about 5 minutes to get in to the Anna section. 5 minutes! A miracle! We still only had 10 minutes to shop and it wasn’t a great shopping experience – who likes shopping under pressure? – but I was so happy to get my hands on some of these lovely pieces (which I was expecting to have all sold out by 10am).
I love the presentation, the boxes are so cute and baroque! But unfortunately I was fidgeting too much with one of them and the cute tassel fell off…
These earrings are so in your face! That’s something I realised when I wore them two days ago – they’re also quite heavy so from now on I’ll only wear them for a maximum of a couple of hours, and definitely not on a night out if I’m planning to have a boogie.
I was so happy when I got my hands on this little fellow! I thought he would be sold out everywhere – he’s just as gorgeous as he looked in the mags.
A crocodile! He’s the coolest thing ever! All these pieces have made me a happy bunny. If money weren’t an issue (it always is), I would have bought a few more earrings, which I initially grabbed but had to leave behind after my shopping bag edit (sniff sniff).
As you can see by the excessive use of exclamation marks in this post, I got completely caught up in the hype. Whoever came up with this collaboration is a genius – what better way to get the sometimes hard to please fashion crowd excited? It’s an original concept, since most brands tend to do collaborations with either designers or Z-list celebrities, and the fashion-editor-as-designer concept is just starting to spread. It’s also a demonstration of the times we live in and the increasing power of social media – Dello Russo herself is a cult figure in the industry, having become famous not so much because of her editor position at Vogue Japan but because of her constant presence in the blogsphere. Bloggers love her and creating a collection inspired by her style is super appealing to that new kind of fashion elite.
So, was I brainwashed by H&M’s clever marketing plot? Probably. Would I have found these pieces of jewellery as appealing had they been under any high-street name? Probably not. There’s no denying that it’s very easy to fall for these kinds of fashion traps, especially if they look this good.