A little over a week ago, the H&M group announced that it wanted to make its Weekday brand “the ultimate destination for young people in terms of style and creative expression”. The campaign for its latest capsule collection is part of this goal through a collaboration with Elena Mottola. The French designer is little known to the general public, but her edgy style resonates with the creative spirit that the brand intends to adopt.
The idea: to offer a collection with “innate energy” and a certain “sensuality”, according to the press release. To do this, Weekday called on the Parisian designer, “known for her frank expression and experimental style”, though it must be noted that Mottola did not design the pieces. Instead, she was tasked with styling them in a consultant-based collaboration, taking a role often undisclosed to the consumer, yet this time Weekday chose to highlight it by asking the stylist to lend her face and silhouette to embody the campaign while emphasising the professional’s involvement in the styling.
The fashion professional, known for co-founding the brand Afterhomework with her partner, and signing several fashion spreads in the niche press, now finds herself in front of the lens. “When I had the opportunity to work for Weekday, I was delighted and honoured to collaborate with a brand that values creativity,” said the stylist. “I had just finished my first self-taught spread for several magazines, a project that I had dreamed of doing for a long time. It’s incredible when brands respond to bold ideas and give you the freedom to bring them to life – it really is like a childhood dream come true.”
The result is a series of monochrome silhouettes in neutral tones, photographed indoors. The collection includes a bomber jacket decorated with eyelets, an asymmetrical dress with lace-up fastening, wide-leg pants (also decorated with eyelets) and a zipped cardigan in ribbed knit.
This type of collaboration is not a first in fast fashion. Zara, the flagship brand of the rival group Inditex, has been calling on creatives who are little known to the general public for several years to imagine its drops and, sometimes, embody them (for example, stylists Samuel Ross and Harry Lambert).
This article originally appeared on FashionUnited.FR. It was translated to English using an AI tool called Genesis and edited by Rachel Douglass..
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