Dressful

H&M has announced a new designer collaboration with Marni. The spring collection designed by Marni's creative director Consuelo Castiglioni will be released in 260 stores worldwide and online. It will include womenswear, menswear and accessories with focus on the Italian label's signature prints and patterns. The Marni for H&M release date is March 8, 2012.

Just a few days ago I was talking to a friend about how the Versace for H&M collection was already passé due to the H&M collaboration process unraveling insanely quickly – much to my chagrin as I found the collaboration to be spot-on – so the timing of this announcement amuses me greatly.

The biggest hype surrounding H&M collaborations takes place a month before the collection is released and on the day of the release. It seems to me that collaboration pieces aren't nearly as interesting afterwards because the real challenge for fashionistas is to snatch them up (and be photographed wearing them) before the official release, made possible by early press launches, lending, clothes "incidentally" disappearing from showrooms etc. Hence the immediate need for a new hot designer collaboration to obsess over.

Additionally, Donatella Versace has also designed a spring collection for H&M. This second Versace for H&M collaboration will be released on January 19, 2012. I'm wondering which collection will get more attention; between the two, the label with more street cred is undoubtedly Versace, especially after the H&M collaboration made it even more famous.

Leaving Versace and Marni aside, as I tweeted earlier today, what I really want to see is a (possibly blasphemous) collaboration between H&M and Hermès. A girl can dream, right?

Katya Leonovich Spring 2012 was the designer's first collection at New York Fashion Week. She was inspired by American football and developed the theme in many directions - the color combinations on prints reminded me of paintings (no surprise - I later learned Leonovich is also a painter!), and my first thought seeing some of the pieces was that they would be perfect worn by a character in a post-apocalyptic comic book. She used chiffon, leather and (deconstructed) denim - when I entered the presentation, it seemed to me it was all too chaotic and intense, but upon closer inspection every look made sense. I like collections you have to look at more than once if you want to get them. If they have as much energy as Katya Leonovich Spring 2012, so much better.

Something for the guys: Rochambeau Spring 2012. I tend to say writing about menswear is not my forte, but it's not an issue in this case as I found many pieces in this collection rather androgynous, especially the jackets and vests. Designers Joshua Cooper and Laurence Chandler recently tweeted that they launched Rochambeau (which means rock-paper-scissors in French) in the eye of the recession and they are stronger for it. The Spring 2012 collection is the opposite of crisis and difficult times - laid-back and romantic.

"The Rochambeau collection for Spring/ Summer 2012 is inspired more by the attitude of the wearer than any specific reference. It’s about the juxtaposition of a man who cares deeply about clothes but once he is wearing something, he completely forgets about it as it fuses with his natural self. The clothes have the nonchalance of something owned forever and this is how the Rochambeau man carries himself. The collection combines high quality structural suiting with lightweight textural layers to create a look that is at once composed and effortless. The construction of the pieces utilizes architectural cuts as well as natural contour to convey our guy's thoughtful but intuitive approach to fashion. The palette is based in neutrals to convey the austerity of urban life." (from the official release)

Rochambeau was my last presentation at New York Fashion Week. I am leaving New York on Friday and I plan to use the remaining two days to flâneur around the city as well as get healthy so my sinuses won't get clogged on flights home. Today I embarrassed myself in Tom Ford flagship store coughing like I'm dying from tuberculosis while trying on lipsticks. In the past week I have lived through so much fashion-wise that I will spend some more time putting the pieces together, though I don't have much time. To conclude, a hint: after New York, find me in Milan.

Bibhu Mohapatra's Spring 2012 collection was inspired by previously unseen polaroids by Helmut Newton from the late 70s and early 80s. Make-up was done in the same way - dark eyes and red lips. The collection is wearable with a touch for detail, some dresses are embellished with Swarovski neutral crystals and some have really exquisite open backs. I think the back is the most beautiful part of the body, so I am drawn to such dresses as a rule, though otherwise I don't think showing skin is all that exciting. Quite the opposite ...

One thing I noticed at fashion weeks last season, but especially here, is that almost every woman is wearing Chanel or Hermès bags. In non-fashion week world they would stand out as status symbols. At fashion week, these bags are not rare, therefore they become ordinary, probably exactly when they were supposed to be appreciated the most.

The only way to stand out at fashion week is to dress extremely eccentric, and many people are pulling this off well at NYFW. When I was leaving the fashion week venue today, there was a lady with a cat on a leash that was wearing a "designer hat" (the cat, not the lady). She was standing near the stairs where the street style photographers are hanging out, hoping to get noticed. I don't think dressing for attention is bad, but dressing an animal for attention is. You see, this too is fashion week. (I hope nobody took her picture)

I got a cold the second day after arrival due to very strong air condition on the subway and especially at fashion week. As a result I haven't been as active as I'd like, I thought I'd be outside pretty much 24/7, but it's not happening. Manhattan is still the same thrill as it was 3 years ago when I lived here, and it's the most perfect backdrop for fashion week because it makes even the very mundane things like grocery shopping look glamorous. There's time for glamour even though the city is so fast-paced. As I said on Twitter, I needed this trip to regain my sense of self (esteem). My ultimate goal would, of course, be not to rely on outside factors for regeneration of my self-esteem. However, New York and fashion week have done the job well.