H&M & Everyone

Many clothing retailers boast slogans such as “trends for less” or “high fashion, low prices,” but few deliver in both areas. Hennes & Mauritz (H&M), a Swedish clothing company founded by Erling Persson in 1947 has successfully combined fashion trends with very (sometimes shockingly) reasonable prices. H&M regularly updates their designs to keep abreast of current styles. They cater to a variety of people. Teens and their parents both shop at the store. Young professionals and expectant moms browse adjacent aisles. With such a wide consumer base in an international market, H&M has maintained its success, in large part, due to their approach to designer collaboration.

While the H&M Corporation employs 68,000 people in their corporate offices, design studios and 1,700 retail stores around the world, their in-house design team totals only 100. The designers work with buyers and merchandisers to choose clothing for the men’s, women’s and children’s departments, as well as H&M’s line of makeup and accessories.

All H&M stores offer three distinct types of clothing: trendy (mainstream styles, mostly casual items), high fashion (which tends to have a more creative or runway look) and classic attire. While all stores adhere to this differentiation, merchandise varies from store to store, even within the same city, depending on the demographics of the area.

In 2004 H&M redeveloped their design strategy by adding celebrity design collaboration to their brand. In that year, their first collaboration was with Karl Lagerfeld. Other well-known designers, such as Roberto Cavalli, Victor & Rolf and Stella McCartney, were soon to follow. Each designer appealed to a different consumer segment. Lagerfeld, having designed for fashion houses, Chanel and Fendi, drew an older, more conservative fashion conscious crowd, the same crowd that might be likely to shop in the classic section. Stella McCartney, who runs her own line underwritten by Gucci, appealed to a younger, eclectic demographic, customers who prefer the trendy items in H&M.

The public’s excitement for the new collaborations was obvious from the start with Lagerfeld. But three years later, when Roberto Cavalli began designing for the company, the collaborations were still a big hit. Fifty people lined up outside the Fifth Avenue store in Manhattan before 8 a.m. on the day of the opening. Some had been there since 7 p.m. the night before. Many came from New Jersey. The entire Cavalli line sold out within thirty minutes in New York City and within two hours in Milan, Hong Kong and London.

H&M closely monitors trends and markets in potential retail locations, as well as continuously monitoring current locations. The company prides itself in occupying major fashion districts in 33 countries around the world, including New York City, London and Hong Kong. H&M extensively researches demographics and socioeconomic aspects of potential retail areas prior to opening a store. As a precaution to changing demographics and trends, the company does not buy any of the buildings that they occupy in order to ensure that they can switch locations easily if issues arise. Fashion trends within geographic markets are also scrutinized. The offerings to the European market differ in style and from their American or Asian counterparts, yet the structure of the store and types of clothing offered are the same.

By collaborating with high profile designers and supplying their designs at affordable prices, H&M has created a quality and trend driven design model that enjoys a high degree of success. The collaborations lend prestige and bolster consumer confidence in their purchases. Offering Cavalli or Lagerfeld designs side-by-side with H&M designed garments creates an instant association for the consumer that enhances the company’s credibility and presence in the fashion community. Like Target and Design Within Reach, H&M uses big names to pull customers into their stores while supplying them with other, equally successful yet affordable, designs. But, unlike Design Within Reach, the designers aren’t selling their well known, high end pieces. They have designed garments specifically for H&M in their own distinctive style, but at a lower price point.

H&M’s physical store design also contributes to their success. Both the men’s and women’s departments are divided into three distinct sections: trendy, high fashion and business. Within these sections all items are segregated by color, not style, making it easier to select outfits and more likely that a customer will stumble upon an item they would not normally have noticed. The items from each section are easily interchanged due to the high quality of the fabrics and attention to detail. From day-to-night wear to the in-between, all of a fashionista’s needs are met within any H&M store.

Unlike some clothing companies, such as Forever 21, who take runway styles and replicate them verbatim in their own stores (causing negative feelings from the fashion community) H&M goes straight to the designer. This design sensibility has paid off. Dodging the financial pitfalls of attempting to appeal to too wide an audience (especially in the fashion retail business), H&M has been very successful with their design endeavors. By creating distinct niches, either within their H&M brand or their designer collaborations, the clothing array gives a mass audience the ability to experience fashion options and individuality, even if they didn’t know that’s what they wanted.