H&M HORDES 'RACK' HAVOC WITH WAR CRY: 'BACK OFF MY DRESS, BITCH!'

By FARRAH WEINSTEIN

It's a Stell-out!

Fashion piranhas swarmed H&M stores in Manhattan yesterday clawing and scratching for a piece of Stella McCartney's limited-edition clothing line, which was unveiled exclusively at the discount apparel chain.

Hipsters, fashion students and trendy moms waited on line as early as 3 a.m. at all six H&M stores here. When the doors opened at 10 a.m., mayhem ensued. Women elbowed, pushed and shoved one another just to snap up the designer duds.

"Back off my dress, bitch!" screamed one woman at the Rockefeller Center flagship store on Fifth Avenue.

"That's mine!" snapped another.

One woman fell during the feeding frenzy, and shoppers just stepped over her. Another was crying. One petite lady stood on top of a chair so she could grab at a silk shirt that was too high, while throwing the rest of the batch down to her friends. A group of moms even brought a stroller along just to pile clothes in it.

"They're grabbing four or five of everything just so they could get the right size," one man screamed into his cellphone amidst the pandemonium.

Customers tried to tear clothes off mannequins, while employees pleaded with them to stop. Or they waited by the dressing rooms for rejected clothes, and by the back doors for employees to walk out to replenish the items.

Taking a cue from the successful limited-edition collection designed by Karl Lagerfeld for the retailer last fall, McCartney collaborated with Sweden-based H&M to design the collection of about 40 items to be sold in selected H&M stores across Europe and North America.

The line ranges from $12.90 for a studded black bathing suit to $99.90 for a delicate rose-colored silk dress. A McCartney print dress on sale at Neiman Marcus, meanwhile, goes for nearly $1,200 and a cardigan for $600. Some items — like a zip sweater dress or a knitted blouse — were grabbed so fast and with such fury that they couldn't even make it to the floor.

Rafiah Johnson, a 27-year-old personal shopper from Manhattan, had more than 20 items in her arms.

"I'm buying it all," she said. "It's so much better than I expected. There's no limit. As long as the clothes fit, I'm buying it."

The former Chloe designer and daughter of Beatles star Paul McCartney is emulating Karl Lagerfeld's successful H&M collection last fall, which also drove women to fight tooth and nail.

"It's very intimidating," said Julie Recao, a 24-year-old Parsons School of Design student who was on the line at the dressing room with a pile of clothes.

"I couldn't believe it when that poor woman fell in the middle of the floor and nobody cared. People just stepped over her. It's crazy."

McCartney's is a limited-edition line for H&M, so once this batch sells out, it's over. By Wednesday afternoon, four of the stores were already sold out. The Rockefeller Center shop and one at 34th Street and Seventh Avenue had the most stock and were still replenishing their supply.

"When it sells out, it's gone," says Emily Grosman, an H&M rep.

By yesterday afternoon, an $80 black McCartney sweater was up on eBay with a starting bid of $125 and the following explanation from the high-fashion speculator who posted it:

"I fought the crowds for this piece! . . . There's nothing left!!"

Source: NY Post

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