Every year since 2004, H&M will release at one luxury designer collaboration that offers the latter’s iconic pieces at high street prices. This year, it was with Moschino. The collab reflected the brand’s creative director Jeremy Scott’s fun and high-octane M.O. to a T (full collection here), and included both womenswear and menswear, as well as the first to weave in designs exclusively for pets. We bet it’s a collection that won’t be forgotten even in time to come.

Before Phoebe Philo, Birkenstock sandals were perceived as downright ugly — and not “ugly” as in the chunky sneaker of now. When Philo sent models down the runway at Celine Spring/Summer 2013 in a souped-up version of those slides (read: lined with fur), Birkenstock became a fashion pack staple. This year in April, they teamed up Rick Owens to curate a collection of footwear for the Birkenstock’s Box project. These pieces were fashioned with army felt, suede, full-grain leather and longhair cow fur, and we loved them even more after.  

From J.W.Anderson to Kate Moss, Christopher Kane to Mary Katrantzou, Topshop has done countless collaborations with designers and celebrities. This year in November: Central Saint Martins graduate Michael Halpern. His disco-driven designs are drenched in sequins a la Studio 54 in the ’70s, which saw him win the British Emerging Talent — Womenswear category title at 2017’s Fashion Awards. His Topshop affair gave us a 28-piece collection of neon velvet separates, sequin-adorned jumpsuits and iridescent camo-print mini dresses. 

Apart from the obvious landmark sneaker collaboration drops of the year (Off-White, A-Cold-Wall*, Comme des Garcons and Undercover with Nike plus, Kanye West’s Yeezy for Adidas — first-timers and long-standing relationships included), Jonathan Anderson surprised with his tie-up with Converse. Though his first logo-led collection — released in Dec 2017 — sated the trendy youth, it was his more underrated glitter and “jelly” designs that truly transformed the nondescript Converse kick, and a testament to Anderson’s design prowess.

Apart from the Kaws tie-up, Uniqlo’s collaboration with Tomas Maier in May this year deserves a mention. Like any other fashion giant, Uniqlo has done many a co-collection with Carine Roitfeld, Jonathan Anderson, Takashi Murakami and Ines de la Fressange to name but a few. 

Maier, the creative director at Bottega Veneta, designed an extensive women and menswear collection that was inspired by the sun-kissed splendour of Florida — a city in which he founded his eponymous label. Think of resortwear meets palm tree prints meets swimwear. All we’d need to complete the Miami Beach look is a Mojito.