UPDATE: 11/14/12: The folks at H&M have released some rules and regulations for the opening day of the Versace collaboration. There’s a whole thing with colored bracelets and limited shopping time, but no, they can’t tell you what time you should set your alarm for if you’re gunning for those patterned red jeans.

********

Those of us who pay attention to this kind of thing have known for awhile now that Donatella and Co. were next up for a cash-register maxing at collaboration-happy H&M. Just yesterday, images of the collection, dates, and stores were released.

On Saturday, November 19, the Versace x H&M collection will debut across the country (it hits overseas two days before) and at the downtown H&M store (the other area locations will not have it).

If you’re interested in bright, colorful, voice-y Italian threads at big box prices, my advice to you is to go to bed early on the 18th. Last year around this time two friends and I arrived at the Lanvin x H&M sale at something like 5:45am to find the line wrapped down Sixth Avenue past Morton’s and Mario’s. By the time the doors opened at 9 and we made it inside, there were seven or eight lonely pieces wilting on the racks. I scored one of the very last dresses, and felt guilty about it for weeks. (My friends got nothing but a poor night’s sleep.)

While most people wouldn’t peg Versace as a super Seattle-y label, I think the folks at David Lawrence, for instance, would beg to differ. It’s one of their main lines. I don’t expect this opening will be anything other than mobbed.

But for what? For what kinds of looks? And at what prices?

That’s the important part, so let’s get on with it. Check out the slideshow here for a sneak preview, and check back with us before the big day. I’ll do my best to get my hands on the nitpicky rules and regulations and share them here. (For example: at the Lanvin sale, there was a line for those who wanted to shop men’s and a line for those who wanted to shop women’s. You could get in earlier if you wanted to go downstairs and just shop men’s, but you were not able to duck into the women’s department afterward. I’ll try to sleuth out those policies for this go-round.)