Dive Brief:
- The H&M x Balmain collection debuted in a New York runway show Tuesday, which was broadcasted on Periscope and starred models Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid.
- The collection’s hashtag, #HMBalmaination, has received 93,000 mentions on Twitter, with about half coming since Jenner joined the campaign last month.
- H&M has been building hype for the designer collaboration since its announcement in May; the collection will debut Nov. 5 in stores.
Dive Insight:
H&M leads apparel retailers worldwide with high-profile designer collaborations, but they would be nothing if the fast-fashion chain didn’t hype them in the social media. Since Balmain’s creative director Olivier Rousteing announced plans for a collaboration with H&M in May, the retailer has garnered more than 312 million impressions with events including yesterday’s runway show and the release of an online look book last week.
Debuting Nov. 5 in select H&M locations, H&M x Balmain is the retailer’s 20th designer collaboration since 2004, when it teamed with Karl Lagerfeld to market a line of cutting-edge and affordably-priced looks. Past couture collaborators include Comme des Garçons, Lanvin, Marni, Versace, and Alexander Wang. According to analytics company Crimson Hexagon, the collaboration with Alexander Wang drove 60% of H&M’s social media ahead of its release (and quick sellout) at the same time last year.
A Benchmarking study from Sprinklr says that H&M leads direct competitors in social media with 36.9 million followers and 8.2 million engagements on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Zara came in second in followers, with 30.9 million, while Forever 21 took the No. 2 slot for engagements, with 5.6 million. Though it attracts smaller numbers, Topshop leads in frequency of social posts and engagements per follower.