The fashion world is aflutter—Alber Elbaz of the House of Lanvin has introduced his exclusive collection for the House of H&M.

CHEAP + CHIC | The most frequent criticism you hear about low-end couture, my term for the guest collaborations between haute couturiers and budget emporiums such as Target and H&M—is that it is never as creative as the designers’ “real” collections. Honestly, I don’t know why anyone would expect it to be. At the very least these retail lines—Alexander McQueen for Target, Sonia Rykiel for H&M, Jil Sander for Uniqlo—are more interesting and imaginative than a lot of ready to wear and almost always decently made. After that, any extra bit of originality is a bonus. Read more