Press release

H&M opens its first store in South Korea

Today at noon, H&M fanfared its first store in Seoul, the fashion-conscious capital of Korea. From now on the fashion interested Seoul audience can find a varied and extensive range of clothes and accessories. H&M will feature international style inspiration with a full concept store on 2,600 square metres on four floors.

The grand opening of the first store began with a ribbon cut by CEO Karl-Johan Persson, Hans Andersson, H&M’s country manager in Korea, and store manager Eunsook Park which led more than 2500 people who queued to flow into the new store.

“H&M is thrilled to expand into a new fashion oriented market. We want to make fashion and quality at the best price available to everyone and we give our customers an inviting and inspiring fashion experience”, says Karl-Johan Persson, CEO H&M, “Korea is an exciting market and we see great potential for expansion. H&M looks forward to bringing style conscious shoppers in Seoul the inspiration to make their own personal fashion statement.”

A fashionable and relaxed reception party held on February 25th in the new store, gathering about 1300 fashionistas, press, creators, and celebrities. The premier evening for Korea’s first store left a strong impression on the Seoul fashion and design scene.

The first new H&M store will feature fashion and stylish looks for the entire family, including high fashion must-haves for women, men, teens and children. H&M has become an innovator of style and is consistently proving that design and quality are not a question of price.

The fashion spotlight at H&M this spring is variety in fashion. The design team offer a diverse style mix: Ethnic influences from all over the world, old Hollywood fashion classics and college styles. Sharp silhouettes boast angular lines with an 80’s influence and in contrast there is soft feminine draping. Fabrics have new blends, structures and surfaces.

End of March a floral explosion for women will be launched on top. A romantic garden collection is made using organic and recycled materials together with an injection of creativity inspired by green gardens, sundrenched landscapes and even 70’s hippie chic flower-power – a trendy collection with a green approach and focus on sustainability. 

Contact information:

Jenni Tapper-Hoël                                        
Head of Media Relations                              
Telephone: +46 8 796 89 73                         
E-mail: jenni.tapper-hoel@hm.com

Or H&M’s Press service at telephone: +46 8 796 53 00, 
or e-mail: mediarelations@hm.com

Press pictures from the store opening and background information for editorial use can be down loaded from www.hm.com

H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB (publ) was founded in Sweden in 1947 and is quoted on NASDAQ OMX Stockholm. The company’s business concept is to offer fashion and quality at the best price. In addition to H&M, the group includes the brands COS, Monki, Weekday and Cheap Monday as well as H&M Home. The H&M Group has around 2,000 stores in 36 markets. In 2009, sales including VAT were SEK 118,697 million and the number of employees was more than 76,000. For further information, visit www.hm.com.