Hennes and Mauritz (H&M) and the international clothes retailing industry

Hennes and Mauritz (H&M) and the international clothes retailing industry

Hennes and Mauritz (H&M) and the international clothes retailing industry

Introduction

Hennes & Mauritz is a Swedish clothing factory. Erling Persson founded the company in 1947. During a trip in America, the large amount companies selling huge stocks of clothing on low prices impressed Persson. When arrived back in Sweden Persson opened his first store Hennes. Hennes means “hers” in Swedish. In 1960 Persson bought Mauritz Widforss, hunting, outdoor and mens-clothingstore. Both hunting- and outdoor-departments were cut up and the company name changed to Hennes & Mauritz Italian glamour designer Roberto Cavalli is the next big name in fashion to collaborate with Swedish fashion retailer H&M. Like Karl Lagerfeld, Stella McCartney and Viktor & Rolf before him, he will create a one-off collection for the chain, which will hit approximately 200 select H&M stores worldwide on 8 November of this year. The collection will only be available for a limited amount of time. (New York Times, 54-78)

“Roberto Cavalli has created a world of his own, iconic and full of fantasy, when it comes to colours, prints, and style,” said H&M head designer Margareta van den Bosch. “There is no place for shyness and no possibility of ending up with a mainstream wardrobe of everyday basics. The Roberto Cavalli collections represent an exuberant, successful lifestyle.” The collection will consist of 20 pieces of menswear and 25 pieces of womenswear, and will also including lingerie and matching accessories. Knowing Cavalli's jet set style, this collection is bound to be a big departure from what we have come to expect from the celebrity designers H&M has chosen in the past. Their tastes were muted and structured, whereas Cavalli - who dresses the likes of Madonna, Beyoncé, Victoria Beckham, Jennifer Lopez and Lenny Kravitz - tends to be more flamboyant in his use of colours, prints and silhouettes. (New York Times, 54-78)

Cavalli has created a bold and glamorous realm of fashion with his signature Roberto Cavalli line, his Just Cavalli range for a young audience, the diffusion collection Class Cavalli, and his Angels and Devils line for boys and girls. (New York Times, 54-78)

The Strategic Situation

Swedish fashion chain Hennes & Mauritz has joined forces with Electronic Arts (EA) to create a virtual world of fashion. EA is the creator of the popular computer game The Sims, and together with H&M has created The Sims 2 H&M Fashion Stuff Pack. Available through EA online and in stores later this month, the stuff pack contains virtual replicas of clothing from the fashion chain's summer collection. Also included are all the items you might need to create your own H&M store: mannequins, clothing racks, changing rooms, cash registers and more.

The Sims 2 H&M Fashion Runway Showcase will launch at the same time. The showcase invites players of the game to create outfits for six different design themes. The public will vote online for the top twelve entries each week, ...