H&M enlists Glenn Martens for an inventive collection with a ‘royal’ twist

Maison Margiela’s current creative director, Belgian designer Glenn Martens, joins a long list of names- including Karl Lagerfeld, Olivier Rousteing, Stella McCartney, Rei Kawakubo and Versace- who have collaborated with the Swedish brand H&M on a capsule collection.

Martens and Ann-Sofie Johanson, H&M’s head of womenswear design, describe the collection as youthful, fresh, “ingenious and fun”, something evident in the way the designer offers different versions of a bag, a jacket or boots, pushing their boundaries- scrunching and manipulating them to transform the pieces and create new designs.

In a video conference, Glenn Martens described them as “small works of art, convertible pieces that change their structure”, accentuating or concealing whichever part of the body you prefer, thanks to metallic finishes and concealed wiring. The idea is clear: they’re designed to take you “from the office to the nightclub. You can be a lumberjack by day and a very different person by night,” he said.

The collection, which goes on sale on October 30, pays tribute to Martens’ career as a designer and his work for Y/Project, the French label created by Yohan Serfaty, now defunct, where, over twelve years, he developed a highly personal and eclectic aesthetic.

From that period, Martens revives invisible straps and roomy, suggestive T-shirt dresses for this new capsule line. “It’s quite a flirtatious collection that can be as sexy as you want it to be,” the designer notes.

His nod to British fashion aims to sit within a style cliché that he simultaneously subverts.

With that in mind, he has created pieces for an imaginary family- a British king and queen- portrayed by actress Joanna Lumley, 79 (“The Wolf of Wall Street” and “Amandaland”), and actor Richard E. Grant, 68 (“Persuasion” and “The Lesson”).

“We couldn’t include King Charles and Camilla- they weren’t available,” says Glenn Martens wryly, adding that his intention is for the garments to be accessible: pieces with a hint of Highland style and a preppy touch that “make people happy, help them feel strong and empowered, and reflect who they want to be”.

The designer describes a “fun, very crazy” campaign, with striking images, such as boots that reach up to the groin but can be folded over themselves to reduce their length.

He opts for a classic wardrobe- trench coats, quilted jackets and tartan- using H&M basics as a starting point and reinventing them. Denim is one of the key fabrics, with naturally worn-in creases achieved “just as in a typical washing process”. “It was amazing!” he says.

For Martens, the bag is definitely the key piece in this capsule. “I’ve always loved accessories because through them you can represent the brand.”

For this collaboration, the brand gave him carte blanche, and they note that they have been able to distinguish between a good idea on paper and a good option for the brand.

“It was a question of balance,” says Ann-Sofie Johanson, who adds that their goal with this initiative is to find someone who fits the brand’s values. “It’s one of the most creative collaborations we’ve done,” she says.

For Martens, it has been an “exciting” project- a love letter to his personal trajectory- with designs that recall earlier stages “that I will never do again,” he concludes.