Sunny side up

By Chen Jie (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-05-15 09:15

Wen Jia, the fashion editor of Shanghai Times, never expected she would pick up a pink silk embroidery vest top designed by Matthew Williamson at H&M store on New York's Fifth Avenue the day before she was going to interview the British designer.

Williamson, whose celebrity clients include Madonna, Sienna Miller, Keira Knightley, Gwyneth Paltrow and Kylie Minogue, is the latest fashion talent to join forces with the Swedish high street fashion brand H&M.

Although Williamson is not as well known in China as H&M's previous collaborators, such as Karl Lagerfeld, Stella McCartney and Madonna, his clothes are becoming the rage here. When his first women's collection recently hit 200 H&M stores worldwide, shoppers raced to get their piece of chic.

Hordes of women in Shanghai cleared the shelves within 10 minutes. Beijing was the same. H&M opened its first store in the capital to coincide with the launching of the label's spring line and hundreds of shoppers lined up in pouring rain outside the flagship store in Qianmen Street to be first through the doors at 11am.

Competition was so intense some girls even wrote blogs to swap tips on how to grab the best items. Those who missed out first time around had another chance in Shanghai and Beijing yesterday as H&M launched his summer line in 1,600 stores worldwide.

Wen got lucky - she managed to nab the pink vest top without even having to fight for it. "It's good to be able to wear something designed by the man himself when I interview him," said Wen, one of a select group of journalists invited to Manhattan to interview the man and preview his summer collection.

Williamson's new line features women's wear, swimwear and a 20-piece "companion" collection, his debut design on menswear. The summer pieces look really very island-chic. The loose silhouette, floating fabrics and hot bursts of color let you know summer has arrived and would be wonderful inclusions in your luggage for your tropical paradise trip.

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