H&M brings Jimmy Choo to the masses

High fashion brands and mass retail chains team up so often these days that there's usually not much new I or anyone else can say about them.

But today, H&M, one of the original innovators in collaborations, stepped up the game when it announced that stiletto virtuoso Jimmy Choo will produce a line of shoes for the store.

This is a major coup for H&M because, until now, the holy trinity of couture shoes -- Manolo Blahnik, Jimmy Choo and Christian Louboutin -- has stood impenetrable to the high-low trend. And to be honest, I assumed they'd always stay that way.

Unlike the nascent, edgy designers who usually accept a mass chain's invitation, these lines, which pride themselves on the bespoke nature of their handcrafted shoes and which price their products at $400 and up, have always seemed to lay beyond the realm of realistic partners. In other words, I always thought a collection like this was about as likely to occur as Prada for Wal-Mart.