Rokh on! Lennon Gallagher, son of Oasis’ Liam, fronts the latest H&M collaboration with Rokh, the top-end, London-based brand by Korean designer Rok Hwang. The capsule collection slots into the Swedish fast fashion house’s well-established business model which aims to make luxury labels more accessible to shoppers by mass producing their designs at lower price points.
Rokh — a brand notably less high profile than other recent H&M pairings, which have included Mugler, Paco Rabanne and Moschino — will be grateful for the exposure this launch offers. In return, H&M is banking on a keen appetite for the 2016-founded brand’s subtly subverted classics — the most identifiable being double layered trench coats (£279.99), and strappy, bodice dresses with detachable hook and eye fastenings (£189.99). The line is available from April 18 starting at £27.99 for a silver, logo tie clip and peaking at £379.99 for leather pieces, including a five-buttoned blazer.
“At Rokh we always work with the most recognisable, iconic pieces of clothing — like trench coats or tailoring — and I like to kind of break those elements and create something new,” says Hwang, who trained at Central Saint Martins and was a classmate and friend of Simone Rocha, who had her own H&M collaboration in 2021.
“There's lots of playful elements in the collection — changeable, adoptable clothing is something that we wanted to bring,” he continues. “For example the double layered trench code has multi-buttons so you can detach it and put it in the wrong position to create something that is a bit more Avant Garde, or just wear it normally.”
The collection also includes a cut-out, blacker leather, bustier blazer (£379.99), floral printed corset tops, pleated skirts and (for those after full-flowery coverage) matching gloves and tights, as well as a weighty, studded, beige blazer dress (£379.99).
There are many nods to the current penchant for subversive office-wear, too, notably in the logo printed briefcase (£189.99) and a five-buttoned, black wool blazer (£229.99). “Rok talked about the office from the beginning,” says Ann-Sofie Johansson, H&M’s creative advisor and head of womenswear. “It’s a personal obsession,” the designer explains. “But there’s a bit of punk with all the hardware to it, too. It gives it a bit of an edge.”
“It’s very much true Rokh. He has been very generous letting us use his best [and most recognisable] designs,” Johansson says. As for picking Hwang, she says: “Rokh is very special — when we can introduce a really brilliant designer to a wider audience, that feels good to do. We haven't worked with a Korean designer before either, and we thought there were so many things happening in Korea in the creative and cultural scene.” With this in mind, several styles have been developed exclusively for Korean and Japanese customers.
As for Hwang, he is just hoping enough of his personal design language will make it through to the shelves. “I went to the HQ of H&M in Stockholm, and worked with the pattern cutting team there,” he says. “I worked on everything from scratch, and cut the patterns with my own hands — I wanted to bring the personal to the mass production.”
Rokh x H&M
