H&M Links With Rei Kawakubo

PARIS – For its next designer collaboration, H&M is trying on something avant-garde for size and teaming up with Japanese fashion maverick Rei Kawakubo.

A onetime Comme des Garçons for H&M collection is slated to launch in early November as the Swedish fast-fashion giant opens its first stores in Japan: a 10,000-square-foot unit in Tokyo’s Ginza district and a 16,000-square-foot location in hyper-trendy Harajuku. An international rollout will follow.

Kawakubo – acclaimed for a fearless, experimental approach to fashion – will design H&M fashions for women, men and children, as well as accessories and a unisex fragrance.

H&M has sparked shopping frenzies for its annual designer collaborations with the likes of Roberto Cavalli, Stella McCartney, Viktor & Rolf and Karl Lagerfeld.

For more, see Friday’s issue of WWD.