H&M in NZ

Sasha Pivovarova by Terry Richardson for H&M,  Fall 2009

I first came across H&M in London in 1997. My Scandinavian friends raved about 'Hennes', a 'high street' store from Sweden with cool designs at affordable prices. Sure enough, upon checking out their store on Oxford Street I was thrilled by the fantastic buys. I went in Winter and found some fabulous jumpers. Then in Spring I stocked up on their awesome bikinis, the range being fronted by my fave Helena Christensen at the time (1998).

Helena Christensen for H&M, 2009

Picture I took in Zurich of using the H&M campaign, from the inaugural Cow Parade

Upon returning to the Antipodes, I sorely missed H&M. The closest we had during the late 90's was Sportsgirl (Australia) and Glassons (NZ). H&M opened in Västerås, Sweden as Hennes, selling women’s clothing. Founder Erling Persson bought Mauritz Widforss, a hunting and fishing equipment store in 1968 and they included men's and children's clothing. The name is changed to Hennes & Mauritz. In 1976 they opened in London and by 2000 they were across Europe and opened in New York.

Karl Lagerfeld, 2004

H&M's designer collabs have caused mass hysteria, the first collection being with Karl Lagerfeld in 2004, then followed by others including Roberto Cavalli, Rei Kawakubo and Comme des Garçons, Stella McCartney, Versace and Alexander Wang. I recall grabbing the last few designs from their collaboration with Matthew Williamson in New York in 2009, taking a size too small just to own a few of the covetable pieces.

Stella McCartney, 2005

Roberto Cavalli, 207

Matthew Williamson 2009

Versace 2011-12

There are also collaborations with celebrities such as Madonna, David Beckham, Beyonce, Kylie Minogue and their first artist collaboration with Jeff Koons, in 2014.

Madonna by Steven Klein, 2006-7

Jeff Koons, H&M NYC 2014

H&M is now in 21 countries from China to the Middle East across and is finally coming to New Zealand! Their range also includes beauty, sportswear and homeware. H&M's business concept is Fashion and quality at the best price in a sustainable way. Their commitment to being sustainable by using friendly and ethical practices and partners, reusing and being climate smart and is admirable. What's not to love?!