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This morning at 8am, Versace for H&M will become available to New Yorkers for the very first time. Below, Racked NY shopping correspondent Kenzie Bryant reports live from outside H&M's flagship at 51st Street and Fifth Avenue.
7:00am: Happy Versace x H&M day! And you thought this day would never come.
7:04am: The first woman in line has been here for 22 hours. She was understandably gruff.
7:07am: Popular methods of staying warm for the overnighters: Huddling, blankets, dreams of hot pink palm trees.
7:15am: Bite-sized muffins have reached the back of the line. Which brings us to our next question: Where's the coffee?
7:17am: "You can find me in the back of the line. Yeah, almost to 4th Street. Seriously. No, I'm serious," says the lady behind us into her phone. I feel your pain.
7:22am: This line appears to be almost half men, which gives credence to the age-old saying I just made up, "If you build a hot pink suit, they will come."
7:24am: Fingers are officially numb and there's still no sign of coffee. I blame Donatella.
7:26am: Here's a photo of the line at 4:30am. Yes, there was a line at 4:30am.
7:29am: My section of the line is debating whether we're among the first 280 people, which would mean we get wristbands that allow us to shop the women's collection before everyone else. We're not that good at math (I know! Just supporting the stereotype. Italians suck at math) but according to our estimates we're somewhere around 250.
7:31am: Line movage! Another two and a half feet closer to alligator shirts and fingers that work good.
7:32am: Someone up front is yelling something, but we might as well be in Siberia.
7:33am: The yelling is getting closer.
7:34am: The wristbands are coming! The wristbands are coming!
7:35am: As are warnings against tampering with the bracelets and/or giving them away.
7:36am: We're in the 1:45 to 2pm group. Sighs of sadness all around. At least the wristbands are pretty?
7:48am: Seeing as how we're not getting into the women's section any time soon, my new line friends are brainstorming the best men's clothes for women. Pink shoes and blazers are number one.
7:58am: According to the girls behind me, if they could pick one item to marry, one item to date, and one item to boink, it would be the short black satin dress, the short red satin dress, and the furry vest, respectively.
8:00am: Shouts ahead! The line is moving.
8:01am: False alarm. Just pushing at the front.
8:08am: It sounds like you'll be able to leave and come back once you have a bracelet. But they're being stricter this year about going into the women's section at the specified time. Also, no exchanging wristbands or doctoring them in any way (not sure how they plan to police that.)
8:15am: "Please no running. If you run, you will be asked to leave. This is fun shopping but it's also safe shopping," says the still-smiling line manager. How does she do it?
8:22am: Now that they've let the first people in, there are a lot of abandoned chairs out here. Bags too.
8:32am: Spotted the first bags leaving the store. Advice from the men carrying them: "Get ready to fight. You have to fight for what you want."
8:34am: One woman walked out weight down by seven bags and rumors started flying. Rumor #1: There's no more stuff.
8:43am: A dude with a neon backpack says there's not a lot left. The women's section is nuts.
8:47am: Across the street, the Versace boutique is laughing at us.
8:53am: Folks leaving are getting harangued by shouts of "Was it worth it?" and "You better run!"
8:56am: The phrases "Nothing's left" and "It's a mess" are getting thrown around a lot for men. Women's looks calm through the window.
9:00am: OK, it looks like they're moving ahead of schedule. 9:15 times are heading in.
9:04am: Holy rumor-mongering: Bomber jackets for men are out and won't be restocked. Shoes and accessories are practically gone. Someone tried to sell a jacket inside of the store for $250 instead of waiting for eBay.
The liveblog continues inside the store right this way.
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