Last night amid the first cold spell of autumn, I hightailed it over to the far west side of the garment district for the preview of H&M's collaboration with Comme des Garcons. That area used to be too seedy to walk through alone, particularly because of certain overpasses which were used as a spots where working girls could still conduct business with their johns. Now, it's as gentrified as any neighborhood in New York and pretty soon, we'll all be calling it Wogard (west of the garment district) to christian it's new coolness.

But enough of my lamentings of a changing New York, I was there to see Rei Kawakubo's genius up close and personal. Not even the presence of some starlets from Gossip Girls could distract me from my mission, though I have to admit I turned my head when Maggie Gyllenhaal walked in the room.

I know I've blogged about this before, but what a coup for H&M. Apparently, true to artistic form, Rei K insisted on complete creative control over the project. So resultingly, some of the pieces are on the high end of the retail ticket for H&M, but still a fraction of the CdG's normal prices. Recession or no, you can bet I'll be one of those crazed shoppers who will be lining up outside a store come November 13, so I can snatch up as many pieces as I possibly can.

What I kept wondering was, how will they ever top this? And will we have to wait a full year for them to unveil their next designer collaboration? On the one hand, Rei K has such a limited audience, but then on the other, she's the ultimate designer's designer, which should open wide the flood gates for even the biggest names. I think next time, though, to balance things out, H&M will have to go commercial. Alexander McQueen? Prada? YSL? Or dare I imagine...Marc Jacobs?