NEW YORK, Jul 16, 2014/ —Entitled ‘When Art Meets Fashion: H&M and Jeff Koons Celebrate the 5th Avenue Flagship Store’, H & M, Hennes & Mauritz AB (H&M),celebrated the launch of its 5th Avenue flagship last evening with a pre-opening celebration hosted by Jeff Koons as well as Adam Weinberg and Scott Rothkopf of the Whitney.
To commemorate the opening of the flagship store, H&M collaborated with American artist Jeff Koons and the Whitney Museum of American Art, whose exhibit, Jeff Koons: A Retrospective is currently on display through October 19th. This will be the first H&M location worldwide to offer the work of a celebrated contemporary artist of this caliber, making H&M the destination where fashion and art intersect.
“I’m very happy to be working with H&M. It’s really exciting to be celebrating the opening of their flagship store and I’m very proud the bag,” said Jeff Koons. Art is something that is accessible, we interact with it all the time and H&M makes fashion the same way.”
At the event, celebrities included Olivia Wilde and Ashley Benson, while fashionistas and art fans alike came to the new store on Fifth Avenue to be the first to shop the new collection and the coveted Balloon Dog (Yellow) handbag designed by Jeff Koons and also enjoy a special performance by British sensation, Birdy.
“It’s so smart of H&M to pick an artist like Jeff Koons and to collaborate with the Whitney Museum, and vice versa”, stated Olivia Wilde at last night’s event with H&M and Jeff Koons. “As a company, H&M’s always ahead of the game with fashion. It’s such a cool thing to have an iconic image on a piece of fashion – it’s says you are into art and fashion and it’s chic.”
The new H&M 5th avenue flagship store consists of 57,000 square feet interior with features such as an impressive façade of windows, four-story atrium and a 740 square foot LED screen with timeless finishes including green and white marble tiles, an opulent wall of mirrors, distinct herringbone wood work and a full concierge shopping service all created a truly luxurious experience for the flagship’s first visitors. The new flagship store will be the first in the country to offer a full concierge service which will create a truly unique shopping experience. It will also be the first store in New York to carry the full H&M Home collection.
The store will open to the public at 12:00 p.m. tomorrow with a grand opening celebration. On opening day the first 1,000 customers in line will receive an Access to Fashion Pass valued between $10 and $1000 as well as giveaways and the chance to win free passes to the Jeff Koons Retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art. To further celebrate the grand opening, customers who bring garments to be recycled in H&M’s Garment Collecting program before the store opens will be entered to win gift cards valued between $50 and $100.
[Darby Radcliff]
