Not exactly Prada for H&M, but the latest shipment of goods at the popular mass retailer are undeniably "inspired" by the Italian fashion house's resort collection.
I'm a Prada girl through and through; I die for the accessories, love the way the RTW fits, and sincerely believe Prada prints are my own personal kryptonite. So you can imagine my surprise the other day as I walked through H&M and saw what looked like Prada's 2010 Resort prints being shoved onto racks. Had I missed the announcement of a Prada for H&M collection? Not likely. This was just H&M ripping off the design (which, honestly, is pretty par for the course that is the billion dollar retail business).Now, being the fan that I am, I have very mixed feeling about H&M's blatant rip-off of Miuccia's designs: On one hand, I'm very happy to get a simple yet chic, retro-print dress for under $50. But on the other hand, I've always had a bit of a problem with copycats and feel especially protective over my favorite designers and (what I consider to be) their sacred styles.
Offering bow embellishments, cheeky scarf-print bikini bottoms and blouse, and pastel colors lifted straight out of a Wayne Thiebaud painting, Prada's collection for the 2010 resort collection was one of my recent favorites. H&M's pieces offer a very similar feeling in terms of the print design and their use of them. H&M has also copied the shoulder keyhole and tie details. See the images above and below for some of the H&M pieces we picked up compared to the looks sent down the runway next to them...
So are the H&M pieces cute? We think so. Are they a great option for those of us who love the Prada collection and want the look for less? Yeah... But at the same time we're torn. This is certainly one of those bittersweet retail finds – a victory and a defeat all rolled up into one.
Obviously this happens all of the time, but what do you think about this? Would you buy and wear something that you knew was an intentional copy of another designer's work?
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