From Stockholm to Manila with H&M

What took you so long?” is the first quip and question out of everyone’s mouths when we find ourselves seated with Karl-Johan Persson, H&M’s 39-year-old chief executive officer, in the company’s beautiful head office in Stockholm. By that, of course, we’re referring to what we (and many) feel has been the much-too-long wait for H&M to finally set up shop in the Philippines, its 55th market. That it is arguably a longtime favorite among many despite its lack of presence in the country is probably the highest compliment the brand can ask for. (I mean, who doesn’t stop by every H&M in sight when they’re on a trip abroad?)

So, what has taken them so long?

“We get that question from all the countries we enter,” says Persson. “The thing is, we open a lot of stores every year. More than 350, almost 400, and it’s a lot of work to find the right location, good rent deals, and most importantly, to find good people who fit the H&M culture, so we have to expand in a way that ensures that we do it with quality. If we can’t do it with quality, we’d rather wait,” he explains, and this is the true heart of the H&M mantra: fashion and quality at the best price. If the price has been five years of consistent rumors before those rumors finally come to fruition on Friday next week, when the first H&M store opens in Manila at the SM Mega Fashion Hall, then that price — the wait — has been well worth it.

Over the course of three days in Sweden, I hear a lot about the H&M culture Persson talks about, from just about everyone we meet — creative directors, designers, stylists, media managers, HR directors, and store employees — and while every company likely has some semblance of this, with H&M, it feels like more than talk. The people who work there genuinely love it, and many stay for decades, moving up among the ranks. “We think about H&M culture all the time. It’s a lot about teamwork, it’s a lot about delegating responsibility, it’s a lot about constantly pushing for improvements and innovation, to have this entrepreneurial spirit. We are all super afraid of becoming a big company, a bureaucracy, so we want the speedy, start-up feeling, and we want to work with fun, friendly people with good values who are smart and have great drive,” says Persson.

And you feel it, when you walk through the gorgeously-designed building, all glass, steel, and natural Scandinavian sunlight. There’s a Google office-cool vibe to it, down to the cafeteria. You enter the library of their new White Room (the company’s creative hub) by way of an in-house coffee shop. The library itself is a bright, open space with many areas in which to lounge, a long table where people can meet (or just work, if they need a change of scenery), and hundreds of volumes to inspire. It’s the kind of company where the CEO walks the runway (they have one on the ground level that also serves as a cafeteria table when not in use for internal fashion shows) decked out in H&M x Margiela for the creative director’s 70th birthday, the kind of company where he (and everyone who works at H&M) works in one of the many H&M stores — it feels like there’s one on every corner, like a Swedish equivalent of Starbucks — at least two days a year. (“[I didn’t deal with] a difficult customer, but I think I slowed down the pace; they had to deal with a slow cashier. I found it hard to keep up the pace with the de-alarming and folding in a nice way and putting things in the bag, but it was good fun!”)

Plus, in true Swedish fashion, everyone is impeccably dressed. Not as eye-catching or as flashy as the fashionistas who walk the streets of New York, Paris, London, or Milan — Sweden’s style is understated, minimalist, and effortless, but statement-making, and no one looks cookie-cutter. Personal style is definitely A Thing in this country, and personal style serves as a source of inspiration for H&M’s creative team.

“[Inspiration] varies from season to season,” says Ann-Sofie Johansson, head of design, new development. “One season, you can feel strongly for a new fabric, for example. If you see a new fabric, you also see the silhouette. If it’s a stiffer fabric, you suddenly feel maybe for more constructed things. It could be a color you feel so much for. You can find inspiration everywhere today. Just looking at people, that is the most inspirational thing I know, personally.” It’s not necessarily direct and immediate inspiration, though. “You can see one person wearing something that looks really good because she styled it with something, but maybe you can’t take that straight off. [It’s about] finding small seeds in different areas, in different fields, and putting them together, and from that, you create something.”

Does the runway influence what H&M churns out? “It’s more like a benchmark, really,” says Johansson. “Starting a new season is not like a blank canvas, because I think here and now, there are certain tendencies that you feel strongly for, that have been there for several seasons, and you just feel like you want to continue building on them and creating them better. And you have certain parts where you feel like, ‘Now it’s time to drop this,’ to take in the new. It’s important, then, to have an understanding of what is new. We know quite much what we want to do, then we have a look at the catwalks to get confirmation,” says Andreas Löwenstam, head of menswear design.

All are in agreement, though, that trends are sticking around longer than they used to, that fashion has become well and truly global (their bestsellers are mostly the same in every market, regardless of climate or culture), and that it’s okay to look back. “You hear all the time that the trends are coming back and you shouldn’t get rid of your old things, but I’m sure when the flared trousers come back, I can’t wear my old ones because the quality is new, or the fit, or it’s a different flare,” says Löwenstam. (Pro tip: The ‘70s. Happening. Turtlenecks. Also happening.) Johansson says it’s all about putting the past in a new context and making it contemporary and modern. “That is how fashion evolves,” says Margareta van den Bosch, creative advisor. I reckon she would know better than anyone; H&M was in just six countries, with only seven designers when she started with the company. Now, it’s in 55 markets, with almost 200 designers constantly creating.

The H&M design team works on three seasons simultaneously at all times — they’ve already started on autumn/winter 2015. “We work half a year ahead with the models and styles, and we work a year ahead with the trends. And in season, with additions. If something goes well, we produce more,” explains van den Bosch.

As for autumn/winter 2014, though, which is what will drop in stores when H&M opens next week, the tendencies lean a little on the sporty side. Sport and streetwear are having their moments, so expect classics with a twist. Expect contrast. “Fashion always works with contrast; something feminine and something masculine, something soft together with something hard,” says Johansson. “We have some great outerwear, fall fur, shearling, wool, so you need a few jackets this season. The bomber jacket is continuing, the aviator jacket, the motorcycle jacket,” she suggests. “I think that you will be happy when you see the collections in Manila.”

Johansson talks about how one can hopefully find what they’re looking for at H&M, and perhaps “something you didn’t know you were looking for,” and this is not hard to imagine given the brand’s extremely wide range of offerings. From basics to the latest trends, everything’s on the racks. There’s something for everyone, in terms of style and in terms of price. H&M prides itself on remaining affordable. Even their most expensive items — designer collaborations and the Studio collections — don’t really burn a hole in the pocket. “We work on different price levels now also, and we think the customer understands that when something costs a little bit more, it’s because of the fabric,” says van den Bosch. Johansson says good design starts with a good idea, but keeping costs low is a matter of resourcefulness and ingenuity. “If you’re the design team and you know your customer and your concept, there’s no reason to just sit there and create the most expensive things. If you ask me, I think it’s just fun and creative to make sure that the lowest price is a wow product,” says Löwenstam.

I think it’s not a stretch to expect a lot of wow when we finally walk through H&M’s doors next week. “It’s a lot of great designs and diversity regardless of style. You hopefully will find something. You don’t have to have a huge wallet to be able to afford H&M. Value for money; the quality you get in relation to the price, I think, will appeal to a lot of people in the Philippines,” says Persson.

I’m definitely going to be in line.