April 11, 2025 |
To shut down a city is no small feat, but last night, amongst the swaying palm trees and balmy sunset of downtown Los Angeles, H&M did just that. Celebrating the launch of its SS25 collection, the historic high street brand put on its very own festival, one that might have given the organisers of Coachella – which kicked off today – a whole new understanding of the phrase “tough act to follow”.
Inspired by the collection’s ode to festival style, which manifested in blush tones and nods to the aesthetics of new romanticism, the one-off event boasted a lineup so plump with the music industry’s most sought-after talent it was close to bursting. Sitting on top of the bill was Grammy-award-winning music supernova Doechii, whilst Robyn, Jamie xx, and Pink Pantheress sat alongside her. And those were just the headliners. Across four stages – The Hollywood Stage, Amapiano, Zero Gravity Club and Object Stage – artists from all corners of club culture stood proud with appearances from Bashkka, Tokischa, The Blessed Madonna and more. For the brand, having such a diverse lineup was essential for representing how it views the H&M customer base. “It’s not one genre, one style; it’s many styles. This is what reflects our brand. It’s not one genre, one type,” says Jörgen Andersson, H&M’s chief creative officer. “I think that’s what music is all about today – young artists do so much sampling, taking something old and putting their twist on it. Doechii is one example with Anxiety – it’s all about giving your twist to something.”
The excitement towards the festival was so palpable that you could feel the city getting ready in the hours leading up to it. The streets were shut down to make way for the shuttles transporting ticket-holders to the glitzed-out grounds. We had two entirely random and unrelated conversations with a poolside hotel guest and shop manager only to discover that they too, were planning on dancing to Alter Ego in a few short hours. A-listers were flown over from all across the globe, from Alex Consani to Tyla to Tinashe, whilst the internet’s most followed influencers also featured on the guestlist. However, what was particularly heartwarming to see were the droves of regular LA natives who made up the majority of the crowd due to a social media sign-up that allowed the general public to attend the event.
For the H&M team, getting the city of LA and the customers who live there involved was the driving force behind the whole thing. “It’s about self-expression,” says Andersson, explaining why hosting an event that celebrates the connection between fashion and music was the go-to for this particular launch. “Many of the trends that were explored originally as inspiration for the collection came from LA. We needed to nod to that.”
“For us, doing these big events is also about making things accessible for our customers. The fashion industry is full of small events where you’re especially inviting people – the VIPs, the editors and everything. But for me, this pleases me: to invite our customers – the young people, the fans – who would never have been invited to a thing like this. That’s why we want to do fewer things but bigger things.”
Luckily, the hype that preceded wasn’t overstated. The grounds were chock-full of LA cool kids, dancing, hugging and having a good time. The vendors, who had all been selected to represent the city’s finest – In-N-Out Burger, Pink’s Hot Dogs and Kogi BBQ Tacos – all had queues round the block. I remember thinking how distinct the style was in the crowd. The way people moved, dressed and interacted all felt really symbiotic and in tune. It was fun to see – like the city, and the young people that live in it, all came together for this one pretty spectacular night.
Photography courtesy of H&M.
