In a continuing trend of high-end name brands providing their own “endorsed” knock-offs, the latest I-wouldn’t-have-believed-it-till-I-saw-it contender is Jimmy Choo.
The shoe God has floated to earth with prices now within reach of someone on a Payless Shoes budget.
Forever 21 should be afraid, very afraid. If name brands all start offering up cheap varieties of their goods, people might not be so keen on no-name knock-offs.
Jimmy Choo is synonymous with the Hollywood red carpet. First Lady Michelle Obama even famously wore a pair for her inauguration and continues to sport other’s from the expensive designer line. Although, she prefers kitten heel, not the monster stilletos featured above.
Starting in November, select H&M stores will feature shoes that can claim parentage from the acclaimed British accessory line, Jimmy Choo. And, yes, the two killer shoes above are from the low-end collection. (And, yes, I mean killer literally and figuratively.)
H&M has been notorious for snagging killer partnerships with the kinds of designers who one would think averse to the idea of cheap fast fashion. I guess everyone enjoys slumming it now and again.
Names like Comme des Garcons, Stella McCartney, Karl Lagerfeld and Roberto Cavalli have all sold popular, coveted and quickly gobbled-up product lines with the chain.
Jimmy Choo’s collection of women’s and men’s footwear and accessories will launch in about 200 H&M stores worldwide on Nov. 14. (Pictured, L-R, Tamara Mellon, the founder and president of Jimmy Choo, a model in the H&M collection and Margareta van den Bosch, the creative advisor of H&M)
Products will include some stilt-like shoes reminiscent of those that became objects of affection after many mentions on “Sex and the City.” There will also be handbags and a small eveningwear line.
H&M currently plans to produce about a dozen shoe models for women and four models for men.
“Prices for most shoes will be pegged between 40 euros, or $55 at current exchange rates, and 100 euros, or $138, while the price range for the bags will be wider, reaching 200 euros, or $276, for some models,” according to a report in Women’s Wear Daily.
Retail prices for the Jimmy Choo line starts at $175, but that’s for a jelly thong or flip-flop.
The most expensive items top out around $2,500 for an exotic skin boot. Most items are priced around $600.
The Jimmy Choo people made it clear that this is not an attempt to launch a modest-priced line permanently. They just want to offer something to the girls who dreams of owning something authentic from the brand without taking out a second mortgage on the house.