This is no new concept in the world of shoppers, but hearts tend to flutter each time an elite designer decides to partner with a store. The notion is both one of strategy and love -- something we will look at shortly. As far as designer collaborations, most commonly, your minds will automatically be directed to Target or H&M.

Target has been making headlines due to fashion lines with Eddie Borgo, Lilly Pulitzer, TOMS, and Altuzarra.

H&M has also been doing collaborations for over a decade, with high-class names and brands such as Madonna, Karl Lagerfield, Versace, Beyonce, Alexander Wang and now Balmain.

Balmain x H&M was revealed November 5th, to a crowd (as expected). Balmain is historic, and at times all over celebs. Yet, by partnering with H&M, designers are able to make contact with not only new fans/consumers, but reach out to the unreachables: those fans who normally are not financially able to purchase "high fashion" items.

Or at least that is what they thought.

Drama ensued in the days coming to the release and after. Each H&M suffered monstrous crowds of dedicated and zealous fans, many of whom have made outcries that they left empty-handed and dejected.

Shops opened late because of lack of crowd control, shoppers who camped out for days were pushed further back in line, enraged con artists jumped to the front of lines, and of course items found their way to eBay before the person who purchased it was even out the door.

This disgusting demonstration of consumerism on crack and lack of respect to other shoppers, as well as the brand you cherish has been seen before with other collaborations. In particular, the Lilly Pulitzer for Target line faced major scrutiny as the prices on eBay directly countered the heart of Lilly as for-the-people fashion and style. Nothing new, but still not acceptable.

"Limited-time items" once meant it would be on racks/shelves/the internet for a few weeks, perhaps 2 months. It is a phrase that can now be defined as: (noun) the result of designers and everyday stores partnering for months to release fashion pieces to an audience of select shoppers for approximately 1 hour or less.

The videos of release days for collabs such as these are vile, disturbing carnage as shoppers ransack stores and fight one another over items - albeit beautiful items - but they beg the question, are these collabs even worth it? Yes, it is worth it to all the parties involved in making a profit(!) that is most certainly clear, but in reality it only brings out the ugly side of fashion and consumerism and providing to their privileged target demographic.