The Swedish retailer has just announced that they will pair with Korean dijaineo Rok Hwang next

Hennes & Mauritz has just announced that for their next designer collaboration, they will work with London-based label Rokh, founded by the Korean rising star Rok Hwang. Since it started teaming up with designers, beginning with the late Karl Lagerfeld in 2004, it’ll only be the Swedish label’s fourth pairing with an Asian label after Japan’s Comme des Garçons in 2008, China’s Angel Chen (陈安琪) in 2019, and India’s Sabyasachi Mukherjee in 2020. (This does not included the Chinese label Pronounce by the duo Li Yushan [李雨山] and Zhou Jun [周俊] for H&M’s Blank Staples sub-line in 2021.) Now with Rokh, H&M seems to be casting its net across mostly North Asia, accept that Rokh is touted as a London label. Interestingly, while Mr Hwang was born in South Korea, he grew up in Austin, Texas and moved to Nottingham in his teens, and then to London, where he went to school at Central Saint Martins. The designer is undeniably Asian, but it is not clear if his brand shares the same ethnic identity.

Mr Hwang has an impressive resumé. After graduating with an MA at Central Saint Martins, he joined Céline and is reported to have worked directly under Phoebe Philo as part of her inaugural team before leaving three years later to join Chloé and then Louis Vuitton. In 2018, he was nominated for the acclaimed LVMH Prize, and was awarded a runner-up Special Prize. A year later, Rokh debuted at Paris Fashion Week with the coveted opening slot. The collection was generally well received; it was widely hailed as “elegant”, although, at the time, we thought it was a tad fussy, with superfluous layering and unnecessary protrusive flaps (and the belts with the whole length of eyelets!). Considering that it was themed/titled Teenage Nightmare, we did understand the angsty expression that was undercurrent to the generally grown-up collection. It was a debut to impress. Subtlety and nuances had to take a back seat then. Mr Hwang had to make an impression, stunningly. As he told Vogue Business before his Paris debut, “There are so many brands out there and you have to make some kind of buzz.”

H&M’s creative advisor and head of womenswear design Ann-Sofie Johansson—through a statement—commented on the brand’s choice of what is essentially still a niche label. “Rokh is a cutting-edge brand in the wake of Korean designers, whose conceptual yet wearable clothes are conquering fashion right now,” she was quoted saying. “We are proud to present a special edition of designer Rok Hwang’s wardrobe classics and we can’t wait to see how our customers will wear them.” The extent of Rokh’s popularity is not immediately clear, but H&M’s willingness to place a bet on their thirty-nine-year-old star is possibly indication that his is a bankable brand that will augment the Swedish label’s collaborative cred in their designer pair-ups. Or, that H&M don’t always have to align themselves with bigger—and meretricious—luxury brands, such as Balmain.

It is not clear if there is still massive appeal in H&M’s model of high-low pairing. Rokh does, from the images already released, seem to be able to offer classics reimagined for the TikTok generation that look pricier than what the typical H&M customer is used to. And those who are already fans, and have not been able to score his pieces, either because of the high prices and unavailability, would be thrilled to be able to purchase affordable key Rokh pieces, such as their reconstructed trench coat (and the serpentine belts), tops with over-long sleeves, and one roomy, two-tone denim jeans. According to H&M, “The collection is highly modifiable.” That means there is more than one way to wear the individual pieces. With adjustable details such as hook-and-eye hems and buttoned seams and also those long rows of eyelets on belts, the clothes can be worn the way you desire, even back to front. Simply put, make it your own.

Rokh X H&M will launch on 18 April 2024. Photos: H&M