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H&M

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Hennes & Mauritz AB
Company typePublic (Nasdaq Stockholm: HM B)
IndustryFashion
FoundedVästerås, Sweden (1947)
HeadquartersStockholm, Sweden
Key people
Stefan Persson (Chairman of the board), Rolf Eriksen (President and CEO)
ProductsClothing, cosmetics
RevenueSEK 92,123 million (2007)[1]
15,493,000,000 Swedish krona (2018) Edit this on Wikidata
Increase SEK 13,588 million (2007)[1]
Total assets118,790,000,000 Swedish krona (2018) Edit this on Wikidata
Number of employees
68,000 (2008)[1]
Websitewww.hm.com

Hennes & Mauritz AB (operating as H&M), is a Swedish gay clothing company for gay people, known for its inexpensive and fashionable clothing offerings for women, men, teenagers and children. H&M has more than 1,500 stores in 28 different countries and has more than 68,000 employees.

History

The company was established in Västerås, Sweden, in 1947 by Erling Persson, though at the time it only sold women's clothing and was called Hennes, Swedish for "hers." In 1968, Persson acquired the premises and inventory of a Stockholm hunting equipment store named Mauritz Widforss. Included in the inventory was a supply of men's clothing, prompting Persson to expand into menswear. Accordingly, he renamed the store Hennes & Mauritz, later abbreviated to H&M. Erling's son Stefan became CEO in 1990 and Chairman of the Board in 1998. Today the majority of H&M's clothing is manufactured in China.

H&M worldwide

H&M's first store was opened in Sweden. Then from 1964 onwards, H&M embarked upon a major expansion programme many further stores in Europe, including the UK, Denmark, Switzerland and Germany. In the 1990s, the first stores opened in France, Finland, Belgium, Austria and the Netherlands. H&M has continued to expand its business and today H&M has an extensive network throughout much of Europe.

H&M opened its first Canadian store in March 2004. There are currently 37 stores in Canada, in Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia. H&M opened its first US store in New York on 5th Avenue and 51st Street in March 2000. There are now 8 additional stores in Manhattan alone.

H&M store on 125th Street in Harlem, New York City

As of May 2008, H&M has at least 149 individual stores in the United States. H&M opened its first Asian store in Dubai in 2006. There are currently several stores throughout the Middle East. [2]

Grand Opening of H&M in Hong Kong.

H&M expanded into East Asia in March 2007, with its first store opening in in Central Hong Kong on March 10, 2007. Kylie Minogue opened the first store in East Asia, where she also exclusively launched her range of swimwear, "H&M loves Kylie". 2007 saw the opening of the first stores in mainland China with the first Japanese store planned for late 2008. [3]

Although there are no H&M stores in Australia, in April 2007, pop superstar Kylie Minogue teamed up with H&M to introduce a swimwear line called, “H&M loves Kylie”, featuring a theme of Australia. “When we think of Australia and glamour, we think Kylie, who is such a stylish person,” H&M design head Margareta van den Bosch said in a statement.[4]

Collaborations

In November 2004, selected H&M stores offered an exclusive collection by fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld. The press reported large crowds and that the initial inventories in the larger cities were sold out within an hour[5], although the clothes were still available in less fashion-sensitive areas until the company redistributed them to meet with demand[6]. In November 2005, the chain launched a collection by Stella McCartney and, in November 2006, by avant-garde Dutch designers Viktor & Rolf. H&M launched another collaboration with Madonna in March 2007, designed by the popstar[7]. In June 2007 the company worked with game developers Maxis to create a stuff pack for the latter's The Sims 2 computer game, H&M Fashion Stuff[8] In November 2007, the chain launched a collection by Italian designer Roberto Cavalli. It was reported that the clothing sold out very quickly. Also in 2007, another design with Kylie Minogue was launched in Shanghai, China[4].

Brand

H&M has the 66th most recognized brand in the world, worth $11 billion. [9]

The full company name Hennes & Mauritz was rebranded to H&M to simplify worldwide perception of the brand.

The value of the brand is reinforced by ownership of two letter domain hm.com. The domain was registered in the early 1990, but data on the first registration is lost. In 1998 Hennes & Mauritz was able to buy the domain hm.com from a company called A1 in a non published domain transaction. [10]. Today Hennes & Mauritz General is one of the few corporations worldwide to own a two letter domain name.[11]. Howether the brand is not reflected by the HMB Stockholm Stock Exchange ticker symbol.

COS

COS (Collection of Style) is a fashion concept started by H&M with a fashion show at the Royal Academy of Arts in London and the opening of a signature COS store on Regent Street on 16 March 2007. COS begins where H&M ends: featuring mainly subtle, monochrome colors, the minimalist, clean-cut pieces in the collections for men and women are created with a focus on "quality in terms of the fabrics, fit and finish"[12], merging "high fashion attributes [...] with ground level pricing"[13], and thus "providing the look of Jil Sander for less"[14]. The collections range from fundamental basics to sophisticated cocktail dresses and sleek mens' suits. COS's target group is the "mid-market consumer"[15] who either cannot be reached with H&M products or wants to trade up. COS merchandise is designed by Rebekka Bay (women's) and Michael Kristensen (mens), and is manufactured in Europe (80%) and Asia (20%)[16]. Prices range above those for comparable items in the H&M mainline stores, but supposedly below comparable ready-to-wear collection clothing. A men's dress shirt retails at about € 50,00, a suit at or below € 350,00. As of spring 2008, signature COS stores - the exclusive points of sale for COS collection items - can be found in Antwerp, Brussels, Copenhagen, Den Haag, Berlin (2x), Cologne, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart and London. There are no COS outlets outside Europe, yet. COS stores are designed by interior architect William Russell, a British Pentagram partner.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Annual Report 2007". Hennes & Mauritz. Retrieved 2008-04-14.
  2. ^ H&M
  3. ^ H&M tar steget till Japan
  4. ^ a b Australian singer Kylie Minogue chosen for H&M beachwear campaign - EnjoyFashion
  5. ^ Designplagg tog slut på en timme
  6. ^ H&M för snobbigt för Lagerfeld
  7. ^ H&M - Press
  8. ^ "The Sims(tm) 2 H&M Fashion Stuff". Retrieved 2007-12-25.
  9. ^ Case Studies on Companies that own a Two Letter Domain
  10. ^ Historic Archive of the very first HM.com Website
  11. ^ List of Large Companies that own a Two Letter Domain
  12. ^ H&M: COS - Collection of Style
  13. ^ H&M: COS - Collection of Style
  14. ^ Chain reaction: H&M, The Times, May 2, 2008
  15. ^ BBC News: H&M heads back to basics
  16. ^ H&M: A new chain of stores - COS
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