FASHION Magazine

  • They said/We said: Donatella rejects a shoot of real women wearing Versace for H&M. But who is the collection for?

    Photography courtesy of H&M

    After a star studded-launch party and months of waiting, the Versace for H&M collection will finally be available to the fashion-hungry masses this weekend. We’ve seen the collection on campaign star Abbey Lee Kershaw and celebs like Blake Lively and Jessica Alba, but to see the clothes in print and on real women, the fast-fashion retailer’s target buyers, would have been refreshing.

    New York Daily News planned to do a feature on real New Yorkers wearing pieces from the collection but it’s reported that the shoot was cancelled at the last minute. An H&M publicist explained to the Daily News that Donatella has to approve anyone who wears the collection for press and that she probably won’t approve of real women wearing the clothes. Apparently, the publicist was right. When the writer sent the publicist pictures of the three women to be approved, only one was deemed acceptable while the other two “didn’t fit Versace’s branding.”

    The “normal” women were being considered for a feature on real people, not for a high-fashion editorial—H&M designer collaborations are meant to bring high-fashion to the masses. Lets thank god Donatella doesn’t approve our Facebook photos…