I have to admit, I was skeptical.  When I saw the ads for the M by Madonna collection for H & M, I thought: What does Madonna know about me and my friends and what we want to wear?  Moreover, am I going to do normal-person things like drive a car and eat in a restaurant in clothes designed by Madonna?  Does she even do those things?  Sure, she's great at yoga, but can she design clothes?



I mean, sure, I'm a Madonna fan, but we're talking about fashion here.  What does the Material Girl turned dominatrix turned hippie turned Material Mom turned yoga guru turned children's book author turned Kabbalah enthusiast know about fashion?  And so, with my skeptical pants on, I went down to the H & M in the Beverly Center on the day after the collection premiered in stores nationwide.



Now I'll admit, I was pleasantly surprised by what I found.

First of all, the M by Madonna clothes were NOTHING like what I thought they'd be.  In my mind, any clothing designed by Madonna would somehow have to be fussy and impractical, but in fact, these clothes were stylish, basic, and downright (dare I say) sensible.  As it turns out, three decades of being the greatest change artist in recent history have given Madonna an impeccable sense of what I might want to wear to a business meeting.  Now I'm sorry I doubted her.



As it turns out, hundreds and hundreds of people in Los Angeles alone had faith in Madonna, lining up outside of H & M before it even opened to get their hands on the new collection.  Apparently these shoppers had heard about the epic lines and limited stock of previous collections, such as the 2006 collaboration with Stella McCarntney.

Fortunately, the M by Madonna collection is much more extensive than previous lines designed by McCartney, Karl Lagerfeld, or Viktor & Rolf (which I swear had my local H & M in New York looking like a Barney's sample sale in about twenty-five minutes), this is a "style icon" line, which not only means more pieces, but more stores, more inventory, and generally more exposure.  That means there is a much better chance you can actually get your hands on some of these clothes before they become urban legend.  So, although the ENTIRE M by Madonna line sold out in a matter of minutes in the Stockholm store, there is still hope.



Apparently, in order to construct the line, H & M designers went into Madonna's own closet, and with help from the megastar, created a line of women's clothing that was not only intended to be wearable, but fashionable.  Margareta van den Bosch (H&M's head of design) and Madonna joined together to create a line of clothing that reflects Madonna's fashion sensibilities, modern elegance and femininity.

'Madonna has an impressive feel for fashion and trends. She is a total professional, inspiring and enthusiastic. She was involved in even the smallest details of every design. The result is 'M by Madonna' which is all about fashion that people can really love and wear season after season,' said van den Bosch.



The M by Madonna line includes Kimono dresses, pants, pencil skirts, blouses, and a range of accessories including wide belts, purses and high-heeled shoes.   And while the shoes might be a little too high for me to wear to a meeting, I am happy to say that I found almost all of the rest of the line to be, as promised, stylish, practical, and elegant.

Good job, Madonna!

Lori Culwell writes about fashion, beauty, current events, and the celebrity scene for several magazines.   You can find more of her writing on her blog, Funny Strange.

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