IF YOU SPENT any time online or in front of a television yesterday, the news of the latest fast fashion collaboration was unavoidable. Stampedes of ornery crowds lined up in capitals from London to Kuala Lumpur and San Francisco in hopes of getting their hands on H&M’s rendition of haute fashion house Balmain’s glitzy fashion. The two brands joined forces to bring slinky body-con style to the masses at a fraction of the French label’s usual prices—its jeans start at prices north of $1,000 and a velvet mini dress in the current holiday collection tops $6,000. Instead, the multitudes that spent hours in line could take home a bit of Kardashian-approved style starting for under $100.
A lot of those purchases have already ended up on Ebay, but it’s safe to assume that plenty more will be worn by enthusiastic buyers between now and office holiday party season. But anyone who lived through the 80s—and still has a few sartorial regrets from the era—might be surprised that the Balmain X H&M clothing looks very reminiscent of clothing we saw more than three decades ago, shoulder pads and copious sequins included. And the styling in the capsule collection’s lookbook had jewelry to match: shoulder sweeping earrings, golden chokers and cuffs and chunky, geometric cocktail rings.
The kids of the nineties are adults with no real recollection of over the top 80s style, and they’re ready to try it on for size. By all means, if you still have some old school gold jewelry hiding in your safe, you might consider dusting it off and showing it to your twentysomething customers. They’ll think it’s rad.
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