madcomments

H&M – king of the high street

Posted in Latest reporters' blogs, Lucy Tesseras April 11th, 2008 by Lucy Tesseras

H&M, one of the world’s most successful high street fashion chains, was yesterday crowned Europe’s Top Performing Retail Brand by brand consultancy Interbrand.

H&M was valued at £8.3 billion, £3 billion more than its closest rival, French hypermarket Carrefour. So where does H&M succeed where others fail?

Since its launch in Sweden in 1947, H&M has remained loyal to its core customer base, sticking to the same principals of trend-led fashion at affordable prices, but moving with the times to constantly evolve its ‘brand’ .

Despite its high street credentials the fashion chain is pioneering in its attitude, always going one step further than its competitors to offer customers what they want, which is ultimately catwalk looks and high street prices.

The retailer was one of the first to collaborate with well known designers in the high profile way they did, enabling consumers to buy into the world of high class fashion without having to remortgage their house.

The fact that the chain was able to secure the likes of Stella McCartney, Chanel head honcho Karl Lagerfeld and design duo Viktor and Rolf speaks volumes in itself. No designer in their right mind would even consider putting their name to a high street collection unless they were 100 per cent convinced about the retailer’s reputation and credibility, further confirming its highly regarded position on the high street and within the industry as a whole.

Just last week Rei Kawakubo, the mastermind behind Japanese label Comme des Garçon, announced that she would be designing a collection for the high street store this autumn, something that a couple of years ago would have been unheard of.

As well as high end designer collaborations H&M has also enlisted the talents, and selling power, of major celebrities. While UK rival New Look managed to secure Lily Allen and Kelly Brook, H&M aimed a little higher, getting international megastar Madonna and pop princess Kylie Minogue to front collections.

There just seems to be no stopping the retailer, which last year raked in a £1.5 billion profit, no mean feat in today’s economic climate. The fashion chain further cemented its position as king of the high street last autumn by opening its first stores in Japan and now has more than 1,500 stores across 28 different countries, quite an achievement for what started out as a small Swedish clothing store.

And while other retailers are cutting back or shutting up shop, H&M is continuing to expand. In the Oxford Circus area alone there are now five stores, all within 10 minutes of each other. So even if you don’t want to be sucked in, you’d be hard pushed not to be at least a little bit intrigued about what goes on behind its doors.

Can H&M do no wrong? Next step total world domination.