Wang for H&M stirs fashion madness in Shanghai

Wang for H&M: A selection of items from the Swedish chain store. Photo provided to Shanghai Star

When the collaboration between Alexander Wang and H&M hits stores, Shanghai fashionistas raced to be the first to get their hands on the hip apparel. Xu Junqian finds what all the fuss is about.

It is the fashion line that inspired people to wait in lines for 60 hours ahead of the official launch, required as many actual police as fashion police and had people physically fighting and blind bidding online.

When the iconically edgy and sporty Alexander Wang collaboration with H&M hit 240 stores worldwide on Thursday, fashionistas flocked to the two Shanghai stores stocking the line and snapped up the most affordable Alexander Wang items on the market as quickly as possible.

Wang is the youngest designer the Swedish fast fashion retailer has ever collaborated with.

A white shirt from the 31-year-old United States designer's flagship label is priced at about 6,000 yuan ($978). In the H&M collection, however, the most expensive pieces, jackets, are no more than 3,000 yuan. But getting a bargain isn't easy. Online posts claimed the price of the ticket to be the first person to enter the store reached 6,000 yuan.

Fashion lovers who did manage to get into the store were faced with a difficult task. Every customer was required to finish their shopping within 15 minutes. And late-comers, those who arrived at noon, could take home only "leftovers", or less popular items, like towels and vests.