Whether or not people find this offensive, it is incredible to recall the history of the Swedish multinational, whose global success parallels that of its older Swedish cousin, IKEA. But what’s he secret behind H&M’s success?

Low-priced basics (the equivalent of IKEA, but with clothes), collaborations with world-famous designers and celebrities like Karl Lagerfield, Versace, Viktor & Rolf, Comme des Garcons, Kate Moss, and Jimmy Choo, and a very open concept to design. Designers are given a lot of freedom in choosing how to make the clothes, resulting in more creative original choices. And with strategic distribution methods–H&M in Vancouver will have different stock than the ones in Montreal, or Paris, for example–it’s hard to resist going in for a peek around given the fact that for about $50 you are pretty much guaranteed to have a bag full of goodies that you can put on right away and enjoy.

I’d say the entrepreneurial spirit is strong within the fashion industry in Sweden and many of these entrepreneurs have become role models to the next generation. Look at how the whole fashion blogging world exploded with one of the most visible, Elin Kling, starting NowManifest following her association with Bonniers Magazine Style By and fashion blog community Minoutfit, and recently moving to New York. You have the likes of the Fahrman sisters (Sofie & Frida) having their own web TV program ‘stylisterna’ on Kanal 5 to Isabella Lowengrip (Blondinbella) staring her own career/inspiration magazine called Egoboost. They all started out as entrepreneurs in the blogging arena but now refer to themselves more as businesswomen.

Many of the small Swedish fashion brands have been started by young entrepreneurs backed by their own money, friends’ money or a very organic start to sales – look at the likes of Carin Wester, Hernandez Cornet, The Local Firm and Uniforms for the Dedicated as good examples of an organic self-start. I think many of these young entrepreneurs are trying to do something different in their own way, many have worked for the larger fashion companies (i.e. H&M) at some point and want to do something different in their own way and hopefully make a decent living from it. In respect to that, it’s exactly what Cheap Monday set out to do in the beginning ending with the entrepreneurs behind the brand receiving a reasonably large payout from H&M.

When it comes to the entrepreneurial spirit in fashion retail, it’s certainly lacking these days due to many of the smaller stores, by the nature of being run by entrepreneurs, having failed spectacularly. Sweden is also ruled by the major chains on the high streets and shopping malls.  It’s hard for retail to compete in Sweden. Entrepreneurs have had to be niche, marketing their store to the right target group across Sweden in very effective and affordable ways, which has resulted in some strong stores with very strong online presences. For example, within street wear you have Sneakersnstuff and Caliroots, in fashion/denim you have Grandpa, Siveletto and Trés Bien Shop, all also selling outside of Sweden.

photo from Refinery29

I just bought myself an open cable sweater kind of like the ones above, but long sleeve. It’s perfect for SF’s chilly summer, offering some coverage, but a little skin too. I’ve seen these open cable frocks all over the place recently. Since I bought the sweater, I really want one in tank form.

All the usual suspects have them: Urban Outfitters, H&M–but better to find an original at a Haight street thrift shop like Wasteland or Buffalo Exchange. Here’s hoping there will be more hoops in my future.

I sheepishly admit that my eyes lit up when I heard the news that Topshop was going to be opening a flagship store in Toronto.  This endeavor is going to be supported by Canadian department store The Bay, who are surely trying to target a younger clientele.  But this isn’t the first taste of Topshop we’ve had. Johnathan + Olivia have had a Topshop concession in their trendy Ossington store since spring 2010 – but that will cease when the flagship opens.

Over the past few years several European and American chains have established themselves in Canada – H&M, Victoria’s Secret, and rumors of J.Crew to name a few.  Exciting for those of us who grew up waiting for the catalog to come in the mail or cross border trips to Buffalo, NY.  Now Torontonians have the first rate pleasure of their own store.

However, it does come at a cost – the massive influx of coveted international chain stores means serious competition for Canadian retailers.  About 50% of the retail market is controlled by foreign companies and it’s predicted to get up to 70% by 2015.  A scary figure for someone like me who is invested in local business. We all make choices as consumers and inevitably more foreign companies means less room for local business.  Think about it.

Accessories: the ultimate way to turn 2 or 3 classic items into a panoply of fashion looks.

Sick of that little black dress you used to love?  Sling on a vintage leather skinny belt low around your waist.  Throw a shaggy scarf around your neck, a stack of bracelets on your wrist, and a nice long necklace.  If you are seeking out a value-priced version of these objects, I recommend the usual suspects: H&M, Forever 21, and Quebec’s very own fully stacked (five stories high!) Simon’s, which may even be cheaper than H&M with a more widely varied selection.  If you’re looking to splurge a little or go vintage, the options are exponential: Unicorn on St-Laurent has some lovely pieces by Erica Weiner, General 54 has some avant-garde pieces by Cease and Decist that “embrace the party lifestyle with a tongue-in-cheek humor”.  Reborn by the Old Port has everything from futuristic jaw-droppingly smooth metal pieces to a special shade of black for every silhouette.  Lest not forget, its 2011–so it’s okay to mix gold and silver, black + brown.

Mass brands have finally defeated podium standards in their run for young consumers. Nowadays it takes less than six months for Zara or Topman designers to analyse pret-a-porter collections, select next season tendencies, copy most successful models and launch their budget versions. The prevalence of plagiarism in the fashion industry has a solid economic basis. It takes only two weeks for mass brand to develop a design and promote the product on the market. And who will be ready to pay for an original pattern twenty times more if you can afford practically the same things at a very reasonable price?

It becomes more and more difficult to withstand the process of copying with the development of the Internet. Anyone can see brand-new collection immediately after the show or sometimes in real time mode. And there’s nothing to be done about that in the foreseeable future. No private screenings or an oath not to disclose can’t help the problem. In music industry you can go to court even for a few notes or a vague reminiscent of an already existing song while the famous jeans brand Balmain can’t do anything about H&M stamping prototypes. At the same time incomes of mass market and luxury brands are incomparable. If Gucci made 2.2 billion of Euros in 2009, then, for example, H&M finished that year with 12.3 billion.

In fact high end brands are worsening the situation themselves: there are numerous collaborations between giant brands and fashion designers. For instance Stella McCartney, Matthew Williamson and Sonia Rykiel designed capsule collections for Adidas and H&M. The problem is that great luxury brands will have to change to keep up pace in this race: to bring their products to such an extent that it could not be quickly reproduced in Chinese factories – either to reduce prices and become a modest rivals of Zara and Topman.

Brands come and go around the world but the Russian market has been always sort of ‘tabula rasa’ for the world’s fashion cycle. Key mass-market player were too reluctant to integrate into a complex local clothes industry.

The ice broke up when, two or three years ago, Zara and Topshop entered the market provoking a massive chaos around major retail malls in Moscow. H&M opening on the outskirts of the capital resembled Black Friday in the US at its worst with the 1km crowd gathering at the store entrance.

Uniqlo was the last player in the team of pop-fashion brands (except for Muji) to appear on Moscow’s market and finally the good news has arrived – March will see its grand opening. So everybody somehow connected with the industry is now guessing whether this overmastering Japanese brand will inject some fresh life into this frozen kingdom of Chinese borax and glamour Italian crocodile jackets.

Super great underwear collection this season for H&M starring the high priestess Sonia Rykiel.

The party last night (1st of December) was incredible. In the wondeful Grand Palais, they recreated a kind of glamorous disneyland with a parade, candy shops, a café and, of course, amazing models…. The party was definilty the “Victoria Secret killer”

Please check the collection.

Even if it is massive – Mass market can de sexy!