Balmain X H&M: The collab that broke the internet

The Announcement

In May 2015, Olivier Rousteing announced the collaboration between Balmain and H&M during the Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas, appearing on the red carpet alongside Kendall Jenner and Jourdan Dunn to preview the upcoming line. The reveal quickly went viral online under the hashtag #HMBalmaination. The objective: making luxury fashion accessible to everybody.

When Couture meet Chaos

Launched on November 5th, 2015, the collection featured more than 50 different designs for men and women, combining the visual identity of the luxury house faux fur like the Bordeaux And Gold Buttonned Jacket, sequins, satin, leather like the Black Leather Perfecto Biker Jacket, and heavily embellished tailoring with the prices of the famous Swedish retailer, starting at $29.90 and reaching up to $649 for statement pieces. The result was a huge success that caused scuffles at the stores, and crashed the website. Demand was so intense that resale prices exploded almost overnight, with some pieces reselling online for up to ten times their retail price.

From Runway to Legend

This collaboration followed in the footsteps of H&M's long history of designer partnerships, which began in 2004 with Karl Lagerfeld and continued with names like Versace, Roberto Cavalli, Stella McCartney, Alexander Wang, or the most iconic: Maison Margiela. Nowadays, Balmain X H&M is remembered as one of the most iconic entries in that lineage timeless and pioneering.

You can find a lot of these iconic products on our website that we have curated for you. Enjoy, and make yourself comfortable!

Written by Louis de la Forge.