The highly anticipated Balmain and H&M collaboration has had the most hype out of all the brand collaborations H&M has ever seen. The beautiful collection certainly lived up to this with many signature pieces Oliver Rousting is known for. The collection consists of many classic Balmain looks such as genie pants, pearl embroidered blazers, large waist clinching belts with silk draped fabrics, and of course exaggerated shoulders. Rousting hasn’t heavily compromised on quality of the collection which is evident in the elaborate embellishments and intricate details.

Overall the collection isn’t exceptionally original as it looks very similar to Balmain pieces we’ve seen on the runway for the past few seasons. I feel the immense media attention the collaboration has gained is due to the excellent marketing strategy where they used social media to promote the collection and create hype. The hashtag #hmbalmainnation created a following just for those interested in the collection and using Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid as “faces” for the collection was an incredibly smart move as they both draw a lot of media attention. It is undoubtably a beautiful collection with the bold edginess Rousting has made Balmain known for, however it is not anything new.