12 November 2009

H&M Stores Ready to Launch JImmy Choo Shoes

from The Star



They have drawn up battle plans with military precision, enlisted friends and family as shopping comrades and plan to come armed with communication devices for the battlefield.

No, it's not Boxing Day shopping. But for those with a fetish for designer shoes stuck on a shoestring budget, it will feel like it.

This Saturday marks the global launch of the highly anticipated Jimmy Choo for H&M collection. Here in Toronto, the limited- edition designer collaboration between the luxury shoe brand and the cheap and chic retailer will be available only at the Bloor St. W. and Eaton Centre locations.

"It's going to be chaos. Five times the pandemonium!" says fashion stylist Ryan Weaving. He and four friends will take shifts beginning at 5 a.m. in the lineup at the Eaton Centre store.

Anticipation has been building for months. All those Choo signatures – sexy stilettos, thigh-high leather boots and animal print bags – will be available, along with the first Jimmy Choo men's shoes and the first Jimmy Choo clothing line.

Weaving has done his research, poring over the H&M website, figuring out the sizing charts and questioning the store's staff. It's paid off: He got the inside track on details. For example, at the Eaton Centre store, the footwear – the hot-ticket items – is on the basement level while the clothing will be on the street level. He also knows that the first 160 people in line will be given wristbands with a specific time to shop just in the shoe department. And each customer will not be allowed to buy more than one of the same item.

The strategizing is necessary, given the popularity of H&M's past designer collaborations with Karl Lagerfeld, Roberto Cavalli, Viktor & Rolf, Stella McCartney and, this year, Matthew Williamson. No matter what the city, people lined up, some camping out overnight, waiting for stores to open. In Toronto, the racks were picked bare in minutes. Some of the stuff appeared on eBay within hours, selling for triple, or more, the original price.

A veteran of the high-low designer game, H&M threw fashionistas into a frenzy when it announced a few months ago that the next collaboration would be with Jimmy Choo.

The shoe label exploded after being featured on the television series Sex and the City, becoming an overnight sensation for ultra-sexy stilettos. The cobbler Jimmy Choo sold his name and company years ago to Tamara Mellon, a glamorous, jet-setting businesswoman based in London who instinctively understood women would love the kind of shoes she favoured – vampy, sexy and with a hint of rock chic.

Which is why woman-about-town Natalie Gee will be there at dawn. "I'm a big fan of Tamara Mellon. I think she is an incredible and powerful businesswoman and she has been raving about the clothes and the bags especially," says Gee.

She has this piece of advice for shoppers on Saturday: "Don't go for everything. Do your research and find one or two things you really love and then grab those. The thing about great style is having one fabulous item and making it work a million different ways."

Another avid shopper with a plan is communications student and Holt Renfrew intern Amina Said. She is sending her sister to the Eaton Centre location while she tackles the crowd at Bloor St.

They plan on communicating via BlackBerry, sending pictures back and forth on what they are able to get their hands on.

Sure there are folks who can't fathom getting up at dawn to line up outside a clothing store. But for people like Said, it isn't optional.

"Yes, there are a lot of things we can live without. But it's about what you're a connoisseur of – what each person appreciates. I happen to love fashion. I would never line up for Jay-Z tickets, but other people might. But this is what I'll line up for."

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