Paris Shopping: H&M Opens & Other Stories

H&M strikes again, with the opening of its new Paris outpost of & Other Stories on the hallowed shopping ground of the Rue Saint-Honoré, not far from the likes of Colette, Prada and Hermès. The location alone speaks volumes about what Hennes & Mauritz is up to. Unlike H&M’s throwaway styles, & Other Stories takes on the big boys, with themes that cover pretty much all the major fashion bases, while appealing to discriminating women of different tastes and ages. Like the hugely successful COS, H&M’s first foray into more high-end ready-to-wear, & Other Stories offers the kind of fashion-forward styles and well-made basics beloved of urban sophisticates, who find H&M a tad populaire yet still seek out affordable chic.

The store’s industrial interior conveys the kind of style lab atmosphere that’s permeated high-concept fashion, with printout photos hung with metal clips on artistic canvas backdrops, and a deconstructed, no-frills approach to design. This is not mere posturing, as the brand relies on a team of 30 veteran designers, at ateliers in Paris and Stockholm. The & Other Stories design team hail from the likes of Acne and APC, and reference artists Anish Kapoor and Gerhard Richter as influences on their colour palette.

A chain it may be, but & Other Stories boasts enough variety and wardrobe-building potential to express your fashion chops and plenty of eye-popping accessories, from skincare and makeup to jewellery, a large selection of shoes and some surprisingly sturdy bags. In fact, the brand’s raison d’être is to encourage women to create their own look and express their own ‘stories’.