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Milkmaid dresses, corsets, puff sleeves, antique florals—these are just a few of the Brock Collection signatures that have transformed the way young women dress. The label’s spring 2018 show stands out as a particular turning point: Other runways had disco sequins and scuba suits, but it was Kristopher Brock and Laura Vassar’s delicate lace dresses, Victorian ruffles, and floral bustiers that caught on. Their “raw and romantic” aesthetic, in Brock’s words, has had a ripple effect, inspiring brands high and low and resonating with women of varying tastes.
For all of Brock Collection’s influence, though, its access to customers was somewhat limited; those rarefied fabrics and hand-sculpted corsets come with luxury price tags to match. The brand simply hadn’t been available to most of its young fans—that is, until H&M called about a collaboration. “We got an email from their team last May, and we honestly thought it was fake,” Brock said on a recent Zoom.
“Working with H&M has been a dream of ours forever because our brand doesn’t reach as many people as we’d love for it to,” Vassar adds. “We wanted to take the styles we knew everyone loved and make them available for girls who haven’t been able to buy Brock. We didn’t want to do entirely different designs—we wanted to give them exactly what they want.”
Over the past year, Brock and Vassar worked with H&M’s team to create an edited collection that “embodies the Brock woman” with happily familiar shapes and prints. There’s a ruched petal pink corset styled with jeans, a signature Brock combination; a rose-print dress with grosgrain-ribbon sleeves, smocked through the bust in lieu of boning; a full-sleeve poplin blouse secured with delicate ties; and a lace-trimmed black slip. Each look is styled with pointed flat mules and a few surprise accessories, like a teeny-tiny pearl bag—just large enough for your AirPods—and an oversized quilted denim clutch. Both were likely informed by H&M’s understanding of what young women are craving right now: squishy XXL bags and novelty micro-mini ones.
In addition to meeting new customers and getting more Brock Collection out into the world, Brock and Vassar said the long-term takeaway is their newfound confidence in sustainability. Much of the collection is made with H&M’s preferred materials, including organic cotton, recycled polyester, organic linen, and Tencel, and the duo worked closely with H&M’s sustainability team to understand how and where the clothes were being made. “We’ve always worked really hard to incorporate sustainability in our brand, but we didn’t have every single thread figured out,” Vassar says. “But now we know how. We’re reaching as many people as possible, and we’re putting into work the sustainability [practices] we picked up.”
The collection launches online and in stores in the U.S. today. Shop every look below—and act fast. It’s likely to sell out in a matter of hours.
