Designer at H&M

Harriet Alexander writes about H&M's latest designer range.

Form an orderly queue ladies: H&M's latest designer collaboration is in the shops.

Style-savvy shoppers will be able to get hold of top-end designs at high-street prices, with Comme des Garçons creating a line for the store.

Japanese designer Rei Kawakubo, who founded Comme des Garçons in 1969, is famed for her avant-garde fashions. The label is a favourite among fashionistas with an eye for sharp tailoring and unconventional, edgy looks.

But how does this translate onto the high street?

H&M is certainly no stranger to high-fashion collaborations: their past contributors include Stella McCartney, Karl Lagerfeld and, last year, Roberto Cavalli.

Their enthusiasm for exciting designers was shown in their partnership with conceptual Dutch designers Viktor and Rolf: cynics said that the artistic, dramatic designs would not work on the high street, but their collection proved to be a runaway success.

And Comme des Garçons' offering looks to be every bit as successful. In Tokyo, bargain hunters queued for three days outside H&M.

The collection is in Kawakubo's traditional pallet of black, white and grey. I've got my eye on the tuxedo jacket (£59.99) and a useful white frill shirt (£34.99).

What do you think? Are designer-high street collaborations a good way of getting high-end brands at low-rate prices? Or are you just paying for the name?