>> Christian Louboutin Would Never Work with H&M, Design Clothes —Christian Louboutin likes sticking to what he knows. Last week, he revealed that H&M had asked him to do a diffusion line: "I declined . . . it's a lot of work really, so it's just difficult for me to do it." When prodded, Louboutin said he didn't plan on ever doing a diffusion line in the future. He also doesn't foresee foraying into clothing: "Never! Never, that's my idea of hell. I was asked to do a line. I was like, 'Are you crazy?'" [The Cut, FWD]

>> Matthew Williamson's Summer collection for H&M hits stores May 14, and what better way to catch attention than with a trippy one-minute online-only segment beginning with Daria Werbowy waking up and proclaiming, "Always the same, it's boring" and ending with Williamson rising from a colorful meteor crater, quipping, "Well I haven't done it all . . . yet."  In between, trippy music, models jumping out of life-size magazines, pink horses . . . directed by Johan Renck and with the theme "It's time for change," it definitely sticks with you.

Video: The commercial! »

>> ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL —We've seen bits and pieces of Matthew Williamson's H&M line — and here's a video interview with him talking about the collection — but now we've got a glimpse of the first campaign image with Daria Werbowy.  Model and designer traveled all the way to Mexico to shoot what could be a studio shot, but the airtime was done for the sunlight on the Mexican beach.  Grazia has behind-the-scenes pictures of the shoot with Solve Sundsbo, Daria posing on a platform of water.  Matthew is also supposed to be in the campaign, but we'll have to wait for subsequent shots to see that. [Fem, Grazia]  

>> INSIDER WIRE —When Roberto Cavalli's H&M line launched last year in New York, Cavalli himself was on the flagship's staircase, taking in the madness with Jessica Stam at his side.  For the Comme des Garcons for H&M launch in Tokyo on Saturday, Rei Kawakubo also made sure everything was going properly, but in her own way — she spent all Friday morning beforehand, "folding her signature shirts with precision." [WWD]

>> INSIDER WIRE —Comme des Garcons for H&M goes on sale tomorrow in Tokyo — the rest of us have to wait until next Thursday — and a group of six people have been taking turns in line since Tuesday.  I hope they weren't planning on grabbing up all the stock — H&M just came out with a new policy stipulating that each customer can only purchase two of each CDG for H&M style, in hopes of curbing all the mad post-purchase eBaying. [JC Report, Fashionista]

>> When it was announced that Rei Kawakubo would be lending her Comme des Garcons aesthetic to H&M this fall, questions were raised, specifically: Would the avant-garde Comme look be compromised in translation by the mass retailer?

"Certainly we're opposite," Kawakubo told W Magazine of the project. "But . . . this idea of collaborating with designers—that’s something I can identify with."

Based on the until now unseen pictures of the collaboration, the signature Comme deconstructed jackets, dropped-crotch pants, polka dots, and predominantly black palette are all there.  But compared to the more mainstream sensibilities of past H&M collaborators — Stella McCartney, Karl Lagerfeld, and Roberto Cavalli, with the exception being Viktor & Rolf — this line is definitely a departure.  That's not to say it won't still create a frenzy . . . the crowd may just be a little different than in the past.
*image: source