When High Fashion Met Unexpected Partners
Designer collaborations can either be brilliant or baffling, and sometimes they're both simultaneously. When luxury brands step outside their gilded comfort zones to partner with fast fashion retailers, tech companies, or completely random entities, the results range from cultural phenomena that break the internet to head-scratching disasters that make you wonder who gave approval to the madness. Here are 10 collaborations that understood the assignment perfectly, and 10 others that clearly skipped the brief.
1. H&M x Balmain
People actually camped outside H&M stores for this collaboration. The collection sold out in minutes online, crashed the website, and sparked fights in physical stores that made Black Friday look civilized. Resale prices tripled immediately, which created its own secondary market chaos.
Katsiaryna Endruszkiewicz on Unsplash
2. Supreme x Louis Vuitton
Streetwear joining forces with the ultimate luxury house felt like oil and water, except Kim Jones knew exactly what he was doing. The red monogram box logo on classic LV leather goods instantly became iconic. Lines wrapped around blocks in every major city for the pop-ups.
3. Target x Missoni
The entire collection vanished from stores so fast that Target had to implement purchase limits retroactively. Those zigzag knit pieces in Missoni's signature patterns retailed for $20 to $70, compared to thousands for actual Missoni. People bought the serving bowls, the patio furniture, the bike. Everything.
4. Uniqlo x Jil Sander
Jil Sander brought her clean-line aesthetic to basics that everyone actually wears. The collaboration lasted several seasons, which was unusual. The fact that they kept bringing +J back (most recently in 2020) proves something worked.
5. Versace x H&M
Donatella Versace doing fast fashion seemed almost ludicrous at first. How do you translate maximalist Italian glamour into affordable pieces? Apparently, by leaning fully into the aesthetic with gold chains, baroque prints, and bodycon everything.
Marek Ślusarczyk (Tupungato) www.wyprawa.info on Wikimedia
6. Alexander Wang x Adidas
Wang took Adidas sportswear and made it deliberately oversized and weirdly fashionable. The collaboration ran for multiple seasons, producing everything from soccer jerseys as streetwear to bizarre AW BBall sneakers that people either loved or found completely unwearable.
7. Comme des Garçons x Converse
Slapping hearts on Chuck Taylors shouldn't be revolutionary. Yet here we are, fifteen years later, and those CDG Play Converses are still everywhere. The collaboration works because it's simple: Rei Kawakubo's heart logo on a universally loved sneaker.
8. Marni x H&M
Marni's print-heavy, slightly weird aesthetic doesn't scream mass market appeal. As a result, the collection divided people, with some adoring the clashing patterns and unusual proportions, and others claiming it looked like expensive thrift store finds.
Staff photographer, Rhode Island School of Design Museum of Art on Wikimedia
9. Isabel Marant x H&M
Those embroidered leather shorts became the defining piece. Everyone wanted that effortless French aesthetic Marant sells, and H&M delivered it at $129 instead of $1,200. The collection captured Marant's bohemian-luxe vibe without feeling cheapened.
SUAXINGPWOO Kaliu on Wikimedia
10. Off-White x IKEA
Virgil Abloh putting quotes on an IKEA rug felt like elaborate trolling except people bought them. The collaboration included rugs, bags, and a clock, all featuring Abloh's signature quotation marks and industrial-style labels. The "SCULPTURE" rug sold out immediately despite costing $200.
And now, here are 10 collaborations that flopped.
1. Vetements x Reebok
Those $1,850 high-top sneakers looked like medical boots and just sat on the shelves. Demna Gvasalia's deconstructed aesthetic doesn't always translate to footwear people actually want to wear. There's a difference between fashion-forward and actively uncomfortable, and some pieces crossed that line.
2. Balmain x Puma
This partnership never found its audience. The pieces existed in this weird middle ground where they were too expensive for typical Puma shoppers and too sporty for people who buy Balmain. The campaign featured Cara Delevingne boxing, except nobody seemed to want boxing-inspired luxury sportswear.
3. Rodarte x Target
The sister designers behind Rodarte make ethereal, expensive clothing. Their Target collection looked like Halloween costumes made from craft store materials. The tulle was cheap, the sizing ran strange, and pieces that captivated on the runway were oddly fragile in person.
4. Victoria Beckham x Target
The problem with this collection was that nothing stood out. The pieces looked like what Target already sold, except with a designer name attached and slightly higher prices. It didn't flop spectacularly; it just sort of existed and then didn't.
5. Eckhaus Latta x UGG
Those patchwork UGGs with the different colored panels confused people. The fashion crowd appreciated the subversion of the classic UGG silhouette, but regular UGG customers didn't get it. The boots sat on shelves, unwanted.
6. Opening Ceremony x Madewell
Opening Ceremony's quirky, trend-forward aesthetic mixed with Madewell's basics created something entirely forgettable. The collection lacked the excitement of OC's usual offerings and the wearability of typical Madewell pieces. It existed briefly, sold modestly, then vanished from collective memory.
7. Kith x Bergdorf Goodman
Ronnie Fieg's streetwear brand partnering with an old-school luxury department store felt forced. The collection tried to bridge streetwear and upscale casual but ended up appealing to neither demographic. Prices were too high for Kith's usual customers, too streetwear for Bergdorf's typical clientele.
8. Jeremy Scott x Longchamp
Scott's maximalist designs on Longchamp's classic tote bags resulted in bags that looked busy and somehow cheaper than the regular offerings. People who loved Jeremy Scott already knew where to find his main line. People who loved Longchamp wanted the simple elegance of the original design.
Ajay Suresh from New York, NY, USA on Wikimedia
9. Jimmy Choo x H&M
Luxury shoes at H&M prices sounds amazing until you realize the quality gap is impossible to bridge. The shoes looked like Jimmy Choo designs but wore like $50 heels from a fast-fashion retailer. The collaboration sold reasonably well initially but gained a reputation for falling apart quickly.
10. Moschino x H&M
The Moschino collection was pure Scott in that it was logo-heavy and intentionally tacky. The fashion crowd bought some pieces ironically. Everyone else walked past, ignoring it. The collection wasn’t a complete failure, just entirely mediocre.
Denna Jones from London, England, United Kingdon on Wikimedia
