H&M

Time Out says

Tue Nov 30 1999

The Swedish giant of cheap, fashiony threads has a large, chaotic store on Oxford Street with its full women’s, men’s children’s range as well as its new homewares department. H&M, for those who have been living under a rock, has been one of the high-street forerunners for catwalk-inspired, affordable (but low quality) clothing- although prices aren’t as bargain basement as they once were. Shopping here can be a bit of a jumble- typically too much is crammed onto rails, and there is frequently a long queue for the changing rooms. And that’s when there isn’t a new collaboration hitting the rails- The brand partly made its name through attracting superdesigners such as Karl Lagerfeld and Viktor & Rolf -as well as, um, Madonna and Kylie - to create in-house diffusion lines allowing the poor of pocket to indulge in a taste of the designer good life. These have been hit and miss- Stella McCartney’s was good, Madonna’s dreadful, and Versace’s was a huge hit despite its brassy styling. Nevertheless we await the arrival of the brand’s Marni collection with interest- the Italian labels trademark bold colours and beautiful prints will work well on H&M’s simple shapes and fabrics.