A special guest post: Mary Jane Fashion's favourite high street designers

Hello lovelies! There couldn't be a better time to publish my first ever guest post. A freshly started week? Check. A re-branded blog I can now be proud of? Check. A passion for fashion? Double check. When Mary Jane Fashion got in touch asking to feature on my blog, I was honoured. I've come across their online retailer in the past and have loved what I saw so there's no surprise that they've produced a brilliant, interesting piece for me and my readers based around their personal favourite high street/designer collaborations. I know I certainly take advantage of a bargain and rejoice at a high street collaboration with designer quality and I'm sure there's lots of others who also feel the same. Enjoy!

Fashion collaborations

What’s perhaps more exciting than a new designer collection is a collection where designers have collaborated with a high-street counterpart. Many of us cannot afford to spend thousands and thousands of pounds on the latest designer pieces coming from the runways and so look to emulate those styles with more financially viable alternatives. When high street-designer collaborations drop the hard work is done for us, with many of the clothing pieces falling directly in line with the designers’ haute creations, embodying the same aesthetics and capturing the same moods. Although many of them sell out almost straight away, it gives us the opportunity to buy into the collections of designers we can only dream of. Here, we reminisce about some of the best collaborations to appear in some of our favourite high street stores.

H&M and Alexander Wang 2014

This cool-kid designer from New York is a go-to for many of the style set thanks to his luxurious basics, his sports-luxe cool and for his stylishly dishevelled beauty looks (who can forget those gorgeous messy plaits from S/S 2010?) In a short space of time he amassed a large cult following and his star ascended to lofty heights, with people clamouring to get to his runway shows. Teaming up last year with H&M was a god-send for his fans and admirers who fawn over his work but don’t have the budget for his ready-to-wear collections. The collection consisted of his signature polished sportswear style, featuring crop tops, leggings, dresses, scuba boots and leather rucksacks. With famous fans like Dakota Fanning, Kate Mara and Jessica Chastain, there was no way the collection was going to stay around for long and sure enough, H&M’s website went into melt-down the day it landed.

Topshop and Kate Moss 2007

In the spring of 2007, fashion royalty and veritable style icon Kate Moss brought her covetable style to the shop-floors of one of the country’s biggest retailers. Topshop has always been a destination for style-conscious women because they are able to seamless translate red carpet looks for the high street. Moss, who is great friends with Topshop’s CEO Phillip Green, produced a collection of effortlessly stylish dresses, tops, jeans and leather jackets that formed a hybrid of both her bohemian and rock and roll looks, which have wowed her fans and followers for many years. She whipped everyone into even more of a frenzy when she modelled a red dress from the collection in the window of Topshop’s flagship store on Oxford Street before it opened. 

Lulu Guinness and Uniqlo 

The world-renowned British accessories designer and the Japanese high street store have collaborated on several occasions, producing fun and fabulous basics that are tongue-in-cheek and humorous. One of the many draws to Japan is the irreverent style that can be seen in Tokyo’s Harajuku district, where inhabitants dress up in an almost cartoonish way, making use of pastel colours, voluminous silhouettes and kawaii (‘cute’) prints. As a result, Lulu Guinness, known for her lips clutch back and cat eyes accessories, goes hand-in-hand with the Harajuku vibe, producing a collection that was self-consciously playful and cheeky. Shop similar styles at Mary Jane Fashion.

Do you have any more of your own to add to the list?

Bridie x