The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - The Telegraph Magazine
House style
High-street hits to refresh your home
After conquering high streets around the world with fast fashion at pocket-friendly prices, Swedish brand h&m applied the same winning formula when it launched its line of homeware sin 2010. And the new spring/ summer collection is its strongest yet. concentrating on accessories and textiles( table linens, towels, bedding) it offers jolly seasonal updates that look a good deal more expensive than they are, especially when mixed with more premium products( see the brand’ s seductive imagery for styling inspiration ). it’s a clever strategy. Shoppers are much more likely to impulse-buy pretty home accessories if the price is right.
‘it needn’t be expensive to update your home season ally–even a few scatter cushion scan do the trick ,’ says evelina Kravaev Söderberg, head of design at h&m home. ‘Spring means fresh flowers, bright colours, and lighter evenings ahead. it makes me very happy to ring the changes of the different seasons.’
h&M’ s more sophisticated sisterbrand cos( functional, contemporary clothing with a nod to v in tageJil Sander) has also branched into home products by collaborating with the Danish brand hay, which shares its emphasis on directional design at accessible prices.
cos has used hay furniture in stores and its rails to display clothing since it launched in 2007 and is now selling an edited selection of the hay range at its Kensington high Street store in London, and online.
the spring collection includes accessories and furniture (chairs, rugs, tableware and candleholders) in shades of green, blue and pink, along with light wood and cork finishes.
‘At hay we see ourselves in between fashion and architecture and in working with cos we feel like we have found a perfect home,’ says hay co-founder Mette hay.
not to be outdone, & other Stories, another of the fashion chains in the h&m group, has just launched a ‘gift shop’ selling beautifully rendered desk accessories including brass pencil pots, paper weights and marbled notebooks and iphone cases. high street hits each and every one.