H&M collaborations: future investment or resale opportunity?

H&M has been creating temporary collections with designers and luxury brands for 14 years. Karl Lagerfeld-who launched this initiative-, Kenzo, Lanvin, Alexander Wang, Versace -to name a few – and this November, Moschino.

These capsule sales are currently held once a year but have also been biannual. How do they work? The chosen brand collaborates with the Swedish low-cost company to create a limited collection of pieces signed by a luxury brand at a very low price. It is launched and generally after a week almost the garments are sold.

The opportunity is clear: you’ll never be able to buy an authentic Balmain or Viktor and Rolf dress, but if you’re quick you can get what’s closest, the collaboration with H&M. Yours, forever.

But if you don’t love the garment or are looking to do business, you may think about reselling it. Is it worth reselling, or is it better to keep this exclusive treasure? Will it be worth much more within a certain time?

With the exception of some more exquisite garments for their materials, the resale prices of the collections in the main pages dedicated to the second hand as Ebay or Vestiaire Collective, are slightly higher than the originals. It doesn’t matter if it’s one of the initial collections or the more recent ones.

Our advice is to put it in the closet before you put it on the market. The benefit you could get doesn’t equal the conceptual value. And who knows, if in the near future these collaborations stop being created, consumers could go crazy and you could get rich. Or simply keep it and keep a real treasure.