What You Need to Know About Shopping Moschino x H&M in San Francisco

Photo: H&M

Photo: H&M

The annual H&M high-fashion collab comes to stores this week, and this year’s guest designer is Jeremy Scott. The LA-provacateur-turned-Moschino-creative-director is bringing his playful, maximalist aesthetic to the Swedish fast fashion retailer with a 100+-piece collection, priced up to $499. The collection goes live on HM.com Thursday, November 8, and you’ll be able to shop it in stores the same morning.

As in past years, a limited number of H&M stores will be offering the line; reps for the brand tell Rockyt that the Union Square location, at 150 Powell Street, will be the sole MOSCHINO [tv] H&M outlet in the city.

We’ve been covering these launches for years, and the lines in San Francisco vary significantly depending on the designer. In the last five years, fashion fans have queued on Powell as early as 10 am on Wednesday to be the first to shop H&M collabs with Balmain, Alexander Wang, and Isabel Marant. The Kenzo and Erdem collections, on the other hand, weren’t as popular, and the earliest shoppers waited until around 2 am on launch day to brave the chill. Given that Scott’s designs are polarizing, we’re guessing the line will start between 12 and 2 am Thursday morning. The store will open at 8 am.

If you want to endure the wait, you might want to bring your own coffee or tea for the line if you plan to arrive early, but the Starbucks across the street will open at 4:30am. While Starbucks has a restroom, it’s been “out of order” most years for H&M launch days. Other things you might want to bring? An umbrella chair, a blanket or coat, something to read, a backup battery for your phone, and hand warmers. (You'll thank us for the hand warmers suggestion.) 

Rules for shopping the collection are similar to past years. Customers in line will be given a colored bracelet; there are 14 colors with one for each group of 30 customers. Your color determines when it’s your time to shop in the designer collection area. Each group will have 15 minutes to shop, with 5 minutes between groups.

Purchases from the collection, including accessories, shoes and bags, are limited to no more than two items per style per person. This applies to all items in the collection including accessories, shoes and bags. If you change your mind, you have one week to make returns for refunds.

Moschino [TV] H&M is not going to appeal to everyone, but—for Scott and Moschino superfans— this collection stays true to both the designer’s and the brand’s DNA. Scroll through the lookbook below, and start planning your shopping list: tomorrow is going to be a long day.