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H&M
was established in 1947. Worldwide sales amounted to $32.9
billion in 1999, and approximately 100 new stores are opening
each year.
The
name H&M comes from "Hennes," the Swedish word for "hers"
and the name of founder Erling Persson's first store, and
"Mauritz," for Stockholm hunting-and-menswear store Mauritz
Widforss, which Persson bought and combined with Hennes.
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Like so many aspects of New York City life, the vibrant
retail fashion scene is overwhelmingly crowded. Yet, everywhere
you turn, it seems as if there are new stores cropping up
every five minutes--from retail-opolises such as Old Navy
to high-end designer shops and NoHo boutiques.
So why has the opening of yet one more flagship chain store
on 5th Avenue--Swedish-based H&M--provoked fashion editors
to wet their snakeskin leather pants with excitement? Since
the sprawling store opened last spring (the first H&M
in the U.S.), its designer rip-off styles have repeatedly
graced the pages of every fashion magazine on the planet.
On a recent visit to the big city, I decided to find out
what all the fuss was about.
The frenetic pace of New York's 5th Avenue followed my
male shopping cohort and me into H&M on a Sunday afternoon.
Hordes of twenty- and young thirty-something men and women
buzzed around the place. Escalators carried them back and
forth among the three levels filled with racks of ultrahip
styles from sportswear and club-worthy clothes to menswear
and a vast array of trendy women's styles. Overlooking the
shopping scene were media stars/models Tim Roth and Jade
Jagger staring coolly from giant signage. With all this
laid out before us, my fellow shopper and I were going to
have to go our separate ways in order to accomplish anything.
My first stop: a collection of earthy and berry-toned garments
that beckoned me to the second floor, where I tried my damnedest
to refrain from drooling all over the merchandise. There
were camel corduroy blazers for around $40, plum leather
pants for about a hundred bucks, cool printed blouses to
match for under $30, and a deep purple three-quarter-length
coat (a knock-off of an Alberta Ferretti tech version priced
at $755) for just $59. Frantic shoppers descended on the
racks like vultures, grabbing sweaters, skirts and jackets
as fast as employees could re-hang the hot items, and lining
up over 20 deep for the dressing rooms.
I refused to waste my brief and precious NYC time standing
in line to try on clothes. In fact, I was getting a little
claustrophobic and disgusted with the rampant consumerism
and desperation of it all. Instead, I grabbed a tan blouse
with a fetching circle print for $23, perused the rest of
the merch and resorted to calling my shopping partner on
my cell phone--clearly the only way to find anyone in this
madness.
My lucky friend had scored a pair of dark blue jeans, a
slim-fitting, long-sleeved black T-shirt and cheap black
crew socks, totaling about 50 bucks. Together we stood in
one of the checkout lines--behind 10 other shoppers--conveniently
distracted by pop-music videos showing on LED screens above
the cashier and by the constant motion of the crowds below.
After we left H&M, the city streets seemed downright
mellow in comparison. And although I spent only 40 minutes
in this store, I was too drained to set foot in nearby nirvana/cosmetic
superstore Sephora.
After I recovered from my bout with agoraphobia, I found
myself wishing for an H&M in Portland. After all, the
cool styles--created by a team of 70 designers--are much
more cutting-edge than most of what's available here, and
the low prices are unprecedented. (Don't worry, folks; the
900 suppliers H&M works with must agree to comply with
local labor legislation and safe workplaces, and there are
routine safety inspections of factories.)
Because the clothes get snatched up so quickly, new styles
are constantly appearing on the racks (some sell out in
two weeks, according to H&M publicist Christian Bagnoud).
The quality of the fabric and the craftsmanship isn't as
high as designer garb, but from a distance you can't tell
the difference. In a sense, H&M undermines the elitism
of high fashion--although it does encourage more consumption.
No wonder the company sells 400 million garments a year
in more than 600 stores across 14 countries. Venturing past
its first NYC store, H&M will have opened 10 East Coast
stores by year's end.
But, sadly, H&M has no plans to head west anytime soon.
"We're a very safe company," explains Bagnoud. "We don't
want to move too fast. We want to corner this market, then
move on to another." Eventually, he reassures me, U.S. shoppers--like
Europeans--will be able to order clothes from the company's
website (www.hm.com). In
the meantime--well, it's another good excuse to book a plane
ticket to New York City.
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