Lorena Saravia Chats About Becoming the First Mexican Designer to Collab With H&M and Her Mexico City Recs
Over the past 21 years, H&M has collaborated with designers from England (Stella McCartney), Japan (Rei Kawakubo), France (Isabel Marant), Italy (Roberto Cavalli), Ireland (Simone Rocha), and several other countries, but the retailer has never teamed up with a Mexican brand until today. Fifteen years after launching her eponymous label, Lorena Saravia now joins the prestigious ranks of H&M collaborators. To get the inside scoop on the historic collab, I traveled to Mexico City to speak with Saravia herself.
“It’s a true honor to be the first Mexican designer to collaborate with H&M,” Saravia told Who What Wear. “H&M was the perfect match because we shared the same vision and values for this collaboration.” H&M Creative Advisor Ann-Sofie Johansson agreed. “We love Lorena’s design and her aesthetics. It feels very H&M,” Johansson told me. “It’s effortless. It’s cool. It’s strong. It also mixes the craft of Mexico with glamour and romance.”
(Image credit: H&M)
The 29-piece collection, launching at 10 a.m. EST on October 16, includes exceptionally chic jackets, skirts, hats, boots, and more. Naturally, the accompanying imagery is strikingly beautiful. “With the campaign for this collaboration, we wanted to show a really contemporary Mexico, a Mexico where you can see the definition of a strong, empowered Mexican woman and the importance of heritage and tradition,” Saravia told me.
I also took the opportunity to ask Saravia about some of her favorite spots in Mexico City. “My favorite neighborhood is La Colonia Roma, where I work and live,” she said. “It’s just a cool spot in the city where you can find so much art, so many restaurants, and so much nightlife.” Saravia said Contramar is her favorite restaurant, and fittingly, its chef and owner, Gabriela Cámara, catered the official Lorena Saravia x H&M dinner party the night before the collab launched online. Saravia also called out Camino Real Polanco as one of her favorite hotels in CDMX. Designed by famed architect Luis Barragán and his disciple Ricardo Legorreta, the hotel “has a very special vibe,” she said.
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(Image credit: H&M)
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