LONDON — H&M returned to London Fashion Week on Thursday evening with a celebrity-filled, multisensory fashion show at a purpose-built venue within an office complex by the Strand.
The runway showcase presented the see now, buy now fall 2025 Studio collection, as well as a selection of pieces across the brand’s various lines: the womenswear-focused campaign collection, which has partially hit the market with the second drop coming in two weeks, and the Atelier collection, which is the menswear offering correlating with the Studio collection.
Ann?Sofie?Johansson, head of design and creative adviser at H&M, said the retailer this time wanted to show a bigger part of the H&M assortment, and that change of rhythms between the lines required some element of entertainment to divide the experience into different acts.
The fashion-forward Studio range, according to its concept designer Linda Wikell, was inspired by the tropical brutalism of São Paulo and the minimalism of Stockholm, with a focus on strict and tender femininity. Cue the statement tailoring, faux fur scarves, lace slipdresses, and over-the-knee boots, as well as a slew of beaded flapper dresses.
The men’s Atelier offering was equally sharp and daring, which complemented the Studio collection vision.
The campaign range, which came out shortly after, was brought to life by the likes of Amelia Grey, Paloma Elsesser, Alex Consani, Romeo Beckham, Iris Law, Lila Moss, Lux Gillespie, and singer Lola Young, who performed two songs, “Dealer” and “Messy,” leading up to the finale.
This part of the show got the room working, and that helped elevate the brand’s new denim propositions, romantic, flowy dresses, check-on-check knits, and pleated skirts long and short.
Johansson said the show was able to get the right curation thanks to the involvement of fashion stylist Jacob K.
“For H&M, it’s very much about high-low styling. One should feel effortless in that sense. I think that is what he is really good at,” she said.
Two looks from the H&M Studio runway presentation during London Fashion Week.
Lucas Possiede/Courtesy
Johansson resides in London, and said she loves that there’s so much creativity in this city with so many bright new talents coming out each season.
“But maybe sometimes they need a little bit of a bigger act as well. I guess it’s where we come in,” she said of the role H&M plays in supporting the BFC’s chief executive officer Laura Weir’s vision to empower young talent, bring established names home, and forging international ties to help British creatives thrive.
Last year the brand enlisted “Brat” star Charli XCX for a 30-minute performance with thousands in the audience at Stratford during London Fashion Week, with additional DJ sets by Jamie xx and Sherelle.
While this year’s show was smaller in scale, H&M amped it up with talks featuring industry experts and workshops during the day leading up to the show, making it a more holistic experience.
“We wanted to do something more than just a runway show. Something we have never done before. Something more people can enjoy, where you can mingle, meet people, and listen to really interesting people in the panels, and try things yourself, like fashion drawings,” said Johansson.
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