Roommates Alia Al-Sharif 21, Jo Wiencek 21, and Alex Platt, 21, scholarship students at USF all, were not about to leave their love of shoes to chance. So they camped out for 17 hours outside the Powell Street H&M store so they could be among the first in line when the doors opened at 10 a.m. Saturday and the Jimmy Choo capsule collection went on sale. Right alongside them were Nghi Lu, 23, an art student in San Diego and pal Holly Luong, 23.
According to our ace style spy Meredith White, the five fans of the line became fast friends, and before long, had decided to combine their resources, strategizing about who would scout out which prized items. (Lucky for them, they ran five consecutive sizes so they would not be pitted against each other).
Eric Lopez, 33, of Emeryville, was at the Comme des Garcons release last year and said the Choo event was a vast improvement. He got everything he came for -- boots, jeans, shirt, and wallet. Congrats Eric!
The drizzle and rain did not dampen their spirits, only steeled their collective resolve. As employees brought out clothing to fill the display racks and shelves, the waiting masses would shriek with glee, not unlike tweens at a Jonas concert. "Oh there it is, oh there's the dress!!"
Shortly before the store opened, employees handed out green wristbands to the self-described "Fab Five" and the 15 others at the front of the line and told them they would have 10 minutes to shop in an area then had to move on to another part of the store. Smartly, the goods were spread out in different locations throughout the two-story store, not clumped together just inside the front doors, like the Comme des Garcons for H&M collection was last year. That set-up created a hysteria that bordered on becoming a full-fledged melee, as everything with the CDG label was stripped from the walls and displays within five minutes and there was a fair amount of shoving and screaming.
This time, shoppers entered in a more controlled fashion, but by 10:13, 724 people had gone through the door. When one of the SFPD officers was asked if he was wearing Jimmy Choo boots in honor of the occasion, he replied cheekily: "No, they are not so good for foot pursuit."
Ah, but it's the pursuit FOR the foot that makes the line so coveted.
As the morning wore on, a sea of "Jimmy Choo for H&M" electric blue tote bags filled Union Square and the environs, creating a near-blinding effect when the bright sun hit the glossy paper, wielded like trophies by the triumphant shoppers carrying them by the armful.
Khevan, a saxophonist, who regularly plays at the corner of Powell and O'Farrell outside H&M, started playing at 8 a.m. to entertain the more than 700 people in line.
The "Fab Five," all of whom said they could never afford the Jimmy Choo handbags and shoes for sale at the departments stores a few paces away, were thrilled with their purchases -- shoes, jewelry, coin purses -- and the highly coveted $299 thigh-high leather boots that are the hottest item of the line. "This is the closest we'll ever come to Jimmy Choo," many said.
By mid-day, there were hundreds of eBay listings for the studded, strappy stilettos and sequined tanks that and been swept out of the stores only shortly before. By 10 p.m. Saturday night, there were more than 1,000 offerings -- many marked up higher than the price of offerings at Neiman's, or Saks. A startling majority had no bids at all, even though they were 24-hour listings.
So if you have your heart set on a certain item, check back often, and you'll more than likely have a pretty good shot.
This article is from www.sfgate.com
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