From Warsaw, with love. That might have been the footnotes for the Polish model Magda Butrym and Swedish behemoth H&M’s celebration of their collaboration, which is ready to debut on April 24.
Magda Butrym and VIP visitors at H&M’s rose-themed celebration in Brooklyn. – Picture credit score: Lucas Possiede / H&M
The celebration passed off in an architecturally beautiful former financial institution paying homage to European areas and was attended by a primarily feminine crowd with VIP visitors corresponding to Chloë Sevigny, Iris Legislation, Irina Shayk, and German influencer and mannequin Nara Smith. It featured performances by Charlotte Lawrence and Kelela.
FashionNetwork.com caught up with the designer and H&M’s inventive advisor, Ann-Sofie Johansson, to debate this newest pair-up.
Ann-Sofie Johansson and Magda Butrym at H&M’s collaboration occasion in Brooklyn. – Picture credit score: BFA / H&M
“She’s brilliant and the first Polish designer we’ve collaborated with. It’s great to find talent all over the world, outside of the four fashion cities, and show their creativity,” Johansson mentioned in between photographs of VIP visitors. “It’s also nice to pick someone that might not be known outside of the fashion industry, and she is also a woman owning and operating an independent brand. Her designs are beautiful and feminine, and our customers will love them,” she added.
Regardless of collaborating with designer manufacturers for over 20 years, the Swedish retailer nonetheless finds every distinctive. “With Magda, it was quite intimate because she has a small team of designers and pattern makers. Our first meeting was in Warsaw; our team had never been there. So, it was nice to see her within her city and vibe,” she added.
Seeing her in her factor influenced the occasion, as did serendipitous logistics as Butrym headed to New York for her challenge. “It all came together here, and New York is New York. Everyone wants to come here to experience all the energy here, including all the people,” Johansson continued.
Regardless of being in New York Metropolis, the Swedes and Butrym gave the occasion a magical fantasy vibe. As visitors entered the landmark 1929 Byzantine-Romanesque-style former Williamsburgh Financial savings Financial institution situated in Fort Greene, Brooklyn—with its cavernous 60-foot vaulted ceilings, arched home windows, mosaic flooring, tinted glass home windows, and a 17-year-old Polish opera prodigy from Chicago singing from the balcony—it was simple to mistake the house for a church. The room was bathed in pink lights and adorned with contemporary rose sculptures, and the furnishings was draped with white materials. As a centerpiece and nod to Butrym’s signature rose was a large pink material sculpture resembling a rose that hung from the ceiling.
Ann-Sofie Johansson, H&M’s inventive advisor, on the rose-filled venue in Brooklyn. – Picture credit score: BFA / H&M
“Each event has to reflect the designer,” Johansson mentioned of the ambiance. “We want to enter the designer’s universe, their world. The rose, for example, is one of Magda’s signatures. So, what she wants that can ‘rhyme’ with H&M is what we stand for. In her case, it’s about beauty, and we need some beauty right now,” she added.
For Butrym, the previous week spent in New York—with husband and youngster in tow—has been a bit surreal and busy, as she simply opened a Magda Butrym pop-up retailer in SoHo, marking her second retail enterprise, as she opened a flagship retailer in Warsaw final 12 months.
“When we drove over the Brooklyn Bridge to get here tonight, it hit me, and I still don’t believe it even now that I’m saying it. It’s overwhelming,” Butrym mentioned, describing her awe of being within the Huge Apple for such necessary model moments. “The pop-up is so adorable; it’s all done in crochet and really romantic,” she added.
In line with the designer, the Swedish group at H&M made issues seamless. “They sent us a document of their thoughts about the brand and what they love. Since I am making a new collection every three months, it was really helpful because I didn’t have time to go back to the archives,” Butrym mentioned as her visitors posed for photographs in entrance of the enormous rose and sipped pink cocktails and champagne.
“It was a great exercise for me and my team because when you do the main collection, you are constantly pushing the thing. It was revisiting these styles and imagining them differently. So, let’s show the flower in a different way or a different style in a new shape. This was adapting it to something else, thinking, what would people love to have? The clients see my designs on celebrities; now they will have this part of my world. This project was a pleasure for me,” she added.
The gathering features a horny, clingy crimson costume with rosettes on the bust worn by Legislation and one other rouge type worn by Smith, recalling a bouquet of roses. Shayk wore sharp black tailoring, whereas Grey wore a black jersey high with a sculptural flower element on the neck and an identical long-line skirt. Valentina Sampaio wore the gathering’s hanging burgundy leather-based trench, and Sevigny wore a stretch mini costume with the gathering’s iconic rose print.
Butrym was additionally thrilled about bringing the opera singer to share some Polish tradition. “She was singing in Polish, so it’s very important to me. You hear Polish songs. It’s amazing that this little country has a moment here in Brooklyn,” she mirrored.
With the return of Stockholm Vogue Week, it might appear becoming that the designer exhibits there, however Johansson does not think about that occuring. “She’s on the official Paris schedule and has shown there for the first time. That is a big thing, so I am sure Magda will continue with that,” Johansson mentioned. In any case, whereas it appears like she is going to stick together with her European allies for her new assortment debuts, because of Sweden, the remainder of the world may have an opportunity to find Butrym’s oeuvre.
