The Margiela for H&M collection isn’t for everyone.  If you go into an H&M, you’ll likely find pieces from the line, which launched last week still hanging on the racks. Fashionable Femme Jen went into a New Jersey mall over the weekend and found the store there pretty well stocked.  Here’s her report:

Mounds of Maison Martin Margiela merchandise remain at the H&M in Paramus, NJ. This weekend, I visit my parents and take the opportunity to swing by Paramus Park Mall, one of the H&M’s outside of NYC carrying the Margiela collection. Unlike NYC, the full women’s (and most of the men’s) selection seems intact with many sizes of each item left.

Maybe it’s sticker shock or the awkwardly trendy style that makes shoppers think twice before dropping top dollar for the high/low collaboration duds. Before the store debut, the one item I had my eye on is the glove clutch. At Paramus, there is a rack full of them! Though it is “real leather,” the quality is mediocre—the material is easily scratch-able and the bag itself isn’t very conducive to holding anything beyond a thin phone or a couple bills (or other really flat items). For $149 (from H&M, mind you), I would prefer to walk out with a new winter wardrobe over one impractical collab item.

Understandably, this is H&M, but I am still slightly disappointed by the quality. The beige suede/ jacket looks GREAT on the mannequin, but upon closer inspection, the big plastic zipper and the weird stretchy not -quite-sewn-on arms tethered to the body of the jacket with elastic didn’t quite do it for me. The look is interesting and the piece certainly has some weight to it, but at  $299, it’s a little pricey IMO. I’ll save you my comments on every piece, but generally speaking, both MMM x H&M pricing and style are a little extreme. One positive—the pieces I find well done are the jackets. In general, H&M seems to have a knack for producing structured jackets. Bravo there.

Maybe I’m just too conservative—things like the circle shirt or oversized dress just are not figure-flattering for the general population. The one stand-out piece for me in the whole collection is a men’s item—the brown fur jacket. Someone sheared an old teddy bear and attached a $349 price tag…Yikes.

The jewelry is… interesting. For the metal pieces, the feel is definitely heavier than what I would expect from H&M. The plexi wedge shoe is somewhat overpriced at $299. In fact, all the shoes seem poorly made, even for a fast fashion retailer. I agree with Larry’s assessment on this one. While there are some decent pieces, I’d hold back on buying until they go on sale.

-Fashionable Femme Jen