H&M Signs Parisian Isabel Marant as Latest Guest Designer

PARIS, France — Hennes & Mauritz AB, Europe's second-largest clothing retailer, said French designer Isabel Marant will be the next collaborator for the 10th year of a guest designer program.

H&M will start selling Marant’s collection for women and men in about 250 stores and online on Nov. 14, the Stockholm- based company said in a statement today. The collection will include clothing and accessories, according to the release.

“I aim at creating something real, that women want to wear in their everyday lives, with a certain carelessness, which I think is very Parisian,” Marant said. “You dress up, but do not pay too much attention and still look sexy. The collection is infused with this kind of easiness and attitude.”

H&M started collaborating with designers in 2004 when its Karl Lagerfeld line led to mobbed stores. Since then, it has sold collection from designers including Jimmy Choo, Anna Dello Russo and last November, Maison Martin Margiela. H&M uses the temporary collections to drive publicity as well as sales.

The Swedish clothing retailer is trailing rival Inditex SA, the owner of Zara stores, which overtook H&M as Europe's biggest clothing maker in 2006. H&M said in March that it planned to ramp up expansion, including more outlets for its new "& Other Stories'' brand, after reporting a decline in first-quarter profit.

By: Julie Cruz; Editors: Celeste Perri, Tim Farrand