Inside H&M’s Collaboration With Magda Butrym
Magda Butrym is celebrating her brand’s 10-year anniversary in a big way. Not only did she secure her first spot on the Paris Fashion Week calendar this season, but she is also partnering with H&M for their next designer collaboration. The link-up is notable: When Butrym initially signed onto the partnership, she was the first designer who hadn’t officially presented on the fashion month calendar to collaborate with the brand; she also stands as their first Polish collaborator.
For Butrym, working with H&M is a full-circle moment. When she was younger, she remembers seeing the 2006 Viktor & Rolf collaboration with H&M in Warsaw, thinking it was impossible for an emerging Polish designer like herself to partner with such a large retailer. Now that she’s reached this milestone, she hopes it will encourage smaller brands: “I have this chance to share with a big audience…that an opportunity like this is possible,” Butrym tells ELLE.com.
Having seen Butrym’s work with her own label over the years, the new collection, which will be available online and in select H&M stores starting April 24, feels like a true a reflection of her career so far. The rose motif—which pops up throughout her previous designs—appears here. Per a press release from H&M, the rose is meant to symbolize womanhood, being “both soft and confident, delicate and independent, arresting and ever-growing.” Butrym also drew inspiration from the past 10 years of her brand, focusing on the silhouettes and styles that have been the most popular with customers and VIP clients—plus the pieces she thought an H&M customer might dream about wearing from her label.
The thoughtfully constructed collection—the luxe details and craftsmanship immediately caught my attention—includes her classic staples, like an oversized black blazer and a long-sleeved jersey dress. There are also showstoppers, i.e., a black sequin dress that has padding at the hip and a full corset underneath a neatly sewn lining. H&M’s head of womenswear, Ann-Sofie Johansson, tells ELLE.com: “Those details are super important. If we’re going to collaborate with a designer, we need to have it done in a proper way. I think our customers expect that now.”
Though the pieces took more than a year to develop, Butrym and Johansson both emphasize that the process was comfortable and easy—a true collaboration. Plus, Johansson notes that the team was predominantly female, from the pattern makers to the seamstresses to, of course, the designer.
Ann-Sofie Johansson (left) and Magda Butrym (right)
“Magda and her team—that was absolutely the best part [of creating this],” Johansson says. “And it ended with a beautiful collection. Entering a collaboration, you never know how that will work out. This was such a nice vibe and such a good understanding between us.”
Shop the collection on HM.com and in select stores starting April 24.