H&M x Moschino: Fans queue for 11 hours to get their hands on UK collection

After months of anticipation, the collection has finally landed in stores

The hotly anticipated H&M x Moschino collaboration launched in stores today after months of preparation.

Fans queued outside stores nationwide to get their hands on a piece of the Italian fashion house’s designs at an affordable price point. But the whole affair was much more civilised than in previous years.

The Independent went down to get a first look.

Fans started lining up outside the High Street Kensington store in the early hours of Thursday morning.

The collection is the 14^th in a line of prestigious designer partnerships with H&M that launched in 2004, following on from last year’s collab with Erdem, and the previous successes of Balmain, Kenzo and Karl Lagerfeld collaborations.

Many of the pieces in the collection feature Disney characters.

Moschino’s collection sees creative director Jeremy Scott’s signature whimsical designs that clash high and low culture, in sportswear printed with Disney characters emblazoned with Moschino logos. Shiny CD prints and gold lettering cover hoodies, sweatshirts, T-shirts and tracksuit bottoms and tongue-in-cheek condom motifs see bags shaped like condoms and T-shirts with the slogan ‘ready-to-wear’.

Some shoppers were disappointed to find that the items they wanted had sold out by the time they were allowed into the store.

This year, as with others, customers queued for hours to purchase items ranging from £25 to £300, compared with the brand’s high fashion line, which sees jackets cost upwards of £1,000.

Staff from the store were dotted around to help customers find what the were looking for.

As people walked out of the store laden with monochrome shopping bags bearing the H&Moschino label, word quickly spread down the queue that things were already selling out. One shopper, Karen Wong, expressed her disappointment that sizes left were only extra small or extra large, and that by the time she’d entered the store at half past nine, most of the accessories had already sold out – with star items like a leather dog collar and a bag in the shape of a condom wrapper having been snapped up before she’d even made it in.

One jumper featured a condom design on the front with the words "ready to wear" emblazoned across it.

But while the hype for this latest collection is no less frenzied than that of H&M’s preceding designer collabs, the mania was abated by a civilised queueing system and snacks for waiting customers.

Wristbands were distributed to fans in the queue to give them a specific time slot to enter the shop. (Harriet Hall)

Rather than the shop-floor fighting we’ve seen in the past, H&M organised allotted time slots for customers and provided them with wristbands so they could go away and return later, rather than stand in the November chill. Little goodie bags containing H&M Moschino branded water and cake pops were handed out to the queue.

Every customer in the line at the High Street Kensington store was given a paper bag containing a mini water bottle and a cake pop. (Harriet Hall)

As The Independent’s time slot approached, the queue was given firm instructions by a security guard who said, "Please walk, do not run. If you run you will be kicked out. Understand?"

A pleased shopper pictured with her purchases outside the High Street Kensington store.

Inside the store, shoppers queued again for their allotted 10 minutes to commence, before perusing the collection in small groups, while H&M staff were on hand to offer assistance in the form of branded shopping baskets for carrying maximum loot and sizing alternatives.

Nine minutes in, H&M staff announced there was one minute left for people to grab any final items. Sifting through rails was done at speed, but not a sharpened elbow was in sight.

The H&M Moschino collection is available in select H&M stores and online now. For a chance to get your hands on something, refer to our handy guide.