FAST FASHION -H&M

OK.

I KNOW I HAVE BEEN NEGLECTING YOU.

(FROM MY BLOG)

I THINK THAT I SHOULD ADD MORE OF MY FASHION VIEWPOINTS, STYLE EXPERTISE...ETC.
BEING THAT I AM A "FASHION DIVA" -OR SO I HAVE BEEN TOLD.


AND ABOUT NOT LETTING YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO READ,
DUDE, I HAVE BEEN BUSY TRAINING FOR MY BROWN BELT WHICH IS THIS WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 24TH!


YES:

BROWN BELT.



SO TO MAKE YOU HAPPY HERE IS A FASHION STORY OF INTEREST TO ME VIA THE WEB:



H&M  clothes are the M&M's of the fashion world-fun, colourful, cheap and oh so delish. Just how do they do it?
By Lianne George

Shopping and Hennes & Mauritz is quite literally a transformative experience. You could be the most composed person in the world, but spend five minutes inside the H&M  retail environment and, I promise you, you'll become a covetous, neurotic mess.

The H&M  experience is universal, whether you're in Manhattan, Berlin, Helsinki or one of the newly minted Toronto locations. From the moment you set foot in a store - designed a bit like Gap meets A&P - your heart will start beating a little bit faster. There's so much to look at - fine knits, gauzy blouses, tweed jackets, flirty college skirts - in an abundance of contrasting colours and patterns. It's all so cute-and obscenely cheap! As you grab for things, you pick up the momentum. You do the math in your head Good Lord! Ten items and you still haven't cracked triple digits!

Reason begins to fail you. You grab things in colours and styles you don't even like. Why? Because you can afford to. Plus, if you don't grab it, someone else will. (At least it'll be safe in your hands until you make up your mind.) Posters of Heidi Klum and Carmen Kass looking adorable in H&M  basics egg you on. But the real panic sets in when you notice the serpentine line forming around the change rooms, inside, everyone is jockeying for mirror space.

The name of this pathology? Fast fashion. (Think fast. Buy fast. Replace fast.) And while lots of retailers are doing it, H&M  is the apotheosis of fast fashion. They offer the latest styles that no Fairweather, Suzy Shier or Smart Set can complete with, prices that blow Gap and Zara out of the water and quality that will put Le Château and Stiches to shame.

H&M is the master trend spotter. The company's buyers and designers travel around the world-often in pairs-scouting for new ideas in bars, clubs, cafés, even on the streets. They'll head to Tokyo and London for the sharper teen collection. They'll visit Milan and Paris for the more classic styles. They get a feel for what's in the air, then give it a twist. This fall, it's all about contrast-retro combined with futuristic, tailoring with sheers, masculine with feminine, romantic with rock-but with an eccentric British twist. Expect dusky shades teamed with brights, floral and paisley print with tweed and pinstripes and sheer chiffon with chunky knits. And once H&M  has spotted a trend, they can have it in their stores in as little as four weeks. They're that efficient.

Presided over by H&M 's head of design, Margareta van den Bosch-the company's creative hub - The White Room - is an open, airy space in H&M 's headquarters in Stockholm. Brightly patterned shirts, ties and second-hand items line the walls for inspiration. All of these company's products, including their textiles, are designed here by the 100 or so international designers. The company doesn't own factories, but works with more than 100 buyers and 750 suppliers throughout Europe and Asia to manufacture their collections for women, men, children and teens.
The evolution of the company, founded in Stockholm in 1947, has dovetailed nicely with the emergence of the global village. People all over the world are watching the same movies, the same TV shows and the same celebrities in the same magazines.

"Luckily for us, fashion trends now fly around the world faster and faster," says Carl-Henric Enhörning, H&M 's head of investor relations. "In a way, you could say we regard the H&M  market as one market. It's divided into a lot of different countries, languages and currencies, but it's still one market with the same products."

"Yet we don't place the same products in all the stores," says Christian Bagnoud, H&M 's director of marketing for Canada. "It makes sense to match our merchandise with the customer - one person may want sharp, trendy clothes, another will want classic basics. In Geneva, there are three H&M  stores on one street, each targeting a different set of customers. We've noticed that we sell more or less the same items in big cities like Manhattan and Toronto, but it's another story in the suburbs. The suburbs are more casual. If we're trying out something new and cutting edge-like tight tube jeans-we'll chose a hip, urban store for the launch and see how things take off there before ordering more and rolling out to other stores."

There are rumours that Montréal may be next in line for H&M  treatment. But why open six stores in Toronto and none elsewhere in Canada? It's the H&M  way to cluster a number of stores in one city, then move on to the next. It keeps marketing, training and logistics costs low for the company, and these savings are then passed on to the customer.

"It's our business to offer fashion and quality at the best possible price," says van den Bosch. "And our fashion basics are very popular. But we also create limited editions, things that are a little bit more special. We like to have a few surprises." H&M  is looking to bring some famous names on-board to create one-off pieces, like Karl Lagerfeld who will have a limited fall line in  H&M  stores mid-November.
 
Could be the start of a beautiful friendship.


ANOTHER REASON WHY TORONTO IS BETTER THAN MONTREAL. IT IS THE FIRST FOR EVERYTHING CUTTING EDGE.