Versace Mania

Yesterday saw the launch of high street giant H&M’s latest designer pairing with a collection from Italian fashion house Versace. Fans of Donatella’s brand of ‘hooker chic’, eye-popping prints rendered in spray on Lycra and studded leather got all they waited for. Some of them – surprisingly more male than female – even queued in front of the stores on Huai Hai and Nanjing Lu the evening before the release of the limited collection and were the first next morning to get their pick from the hot, extremely colourful  range of fashion items with prices range from 149-2,990RMB (the latter for a black studded leather long coat for women). Every single one of them came out with at least three to four huge bags with the famous Versace print, similar to the sexy green dress that Jennifer Lopez was wearing on the red carpet to the Grammy Awards 2000. For all the other fans that came in the morning it was no problem to wait in line for at least two hours. Once in the store with upbeat music they waited patiently again to get their pick, well controlled by guards, letting in small groups of people within the dedicated Versace area and with time slots for particular ranges of the collection. Many of the full bags even got opened straight outside the store, right in front of H&M’s door by traders selling them with a margin of 300RMB to people not willing to wait in line. Also, within a few hours after the impressive launch, items were being sold on Taobao, China’s biggest online shopping website. Big names, sold on streets or online, are just having it here in China. H&M did a great job boosting the Versace Mania. What will be the next one?