Who The F*ck is Christophe Lemaire and Why Did His Latest Collection Sell Out In Hours?

Because face it, you need to know.

Thursday night, fast fashion brand Uniqlo hosted a press shopping event for editors to pre-shop their collaboration with Paris-based designer Christophe Lemaire. I went with one goal and one goal only. To buy a cashmere roll neck long-sleeved sweater. Yeah, it’s just a turtleneck. What can I say? I’m a simple guy.

I arrived at 7:01 to the 7:00 opening, was in by 7:04 and all of the styles were gone. Yeah, gone.

Since the launch this morning, the collection has been selling out left and right. As of this writing there are only two pieces left from the men’s offerings and one already says low in stock. But who is this dude? Why is his stuff selling out? And what is there to do now? Well, we’ve got the answers as per norm.

Who the fuck is Christophe Lemaire?

While you may not know the visionary’s name you might know the brand he used to work for: Hermes. Still no bells? What about Birkin? Hermes is the brand that creates the incredibly popular(and incredibly high priced) Birkin bag and up until last year, Lemaire designed the clothes for the brand. Now, he and wife Sarah-Linh Tran, busy themselves with building their own brand, Lemaire.

Why is his stuff selling out?

Because it’s good! To put it simply, Lemaire is a hell of a designer that has made his name in thoughtful tweaks on wardrobe staples. His expertise has always been in his simplicity and fabrication choice so doing that all at Uniqlo prices, means the collection sells itself. Pleated trousers, flat front pants, hooded coats, those are all pieces we all have in our closet already and Lemaire does them here reworked in Merino wool and cashmere at prices that are practically unheard of — $60 for Merino wool pants speak for themselves.

What to do now?

Wait. The thing about some fashion people is they buy first try later, so a few of those pieces that sold out will get returned because they don’t fit. The company also might have some reserves to restock their shelves or select pieces might turn up on eBay(talk about surge pricing). Of course the other reason to wait is come this spring, Lemaire and Uniqlo will team up again to expand the collection. Maybe we’ll be a little more prepared then.