Balmain for H&M

With the recent success of the Balmain for H&M collection, I have been thinking a lot about the nature of luxury items and how they are marketed to consumers. The limited edition collection launched on November 5th, however we first started hearing about the collection months in advance. Right from the beginning the collection was predicted to be bigger then any other fast fashion/ designer collaboration as the collection was announced at the Billboard Music Awards by some of fashions most famous faces. Kendall Jenner along with her sister Kylie and Jourdan Dunn wore looks from the collection on the red carpet, only revealing the collection when being asked who they were wearing. It was an announcement that no one was expecting that night and thus the two retailers created a frenzy right away. Social media exploded that night with the news becoming bigger then many of the award winners that night.
With the initial excitement created, the teams at H&M and Balmain had a systematic approach to the next seven months before the collection came out. They released images frequently enough to keep the collection in mind but not often enough that consumers got tired of looking at the beautifully crafted pieces. Every time the collection slipped from our minds we were reminded through new campaign images or shots of celebrities wearing the collection to different events. Without knowing it we were all waiting for the next glimpse of the collection to become available.
In addition to the anticipation, we were constantly reassured that the pieces coming out were the ultimate cool-girl pieces as top model after top model joined #hmbalmainnation in support of the collection. Culminating with the Hadid sisters and Karlie Kloss joining the Jenner sisters and Jourdan Dunn in the official runway show for the collection, we all looked on hoping to get to wear the same outfits as the famous faces that walked the runway.
So was all the promotion worth it? The collection sold out in just hours making it impossible to purchase anything had you not waited overnight outside the store. Additionally those who did manage to get their hands on product from the collection are now reselling it online for prices more than the price of traditional Balmain.
This brings us to the topic of the value of luxury goods. How can the fast fashion alternative be more valuable then the high end luxury original? Given that the luxury market is built on perception and the way retailers promote their products, even a fast fashion collection can reach luxury status when it is promoted like a luxury line. With the fashion industry and celebrities alike telling us how special the collection is, as well as its limited edition status, we believe that the supposedly "lower end" line is worthy of the same praise (and price) as the original high end market items. After looking at the frenzy the marketing cause maybe instead of saying that Balmain created a lower end line, we should be saying that H&M created a high end collection.