Quietly does it

An encounter with the creative director of Swedish fast fashion giant H&M during last month's L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival (LMFF) reveals an iron fist in a velvet glove, writes Belinda Smart.

Margareta van den Bosch talks in a steady stream of utilitarian snippets that are so hushed I find myself craning forward on the designer upholstery to hear her. We're in the Sofitel Melbourne's VIP lounge, I'm teetering on the brink of my seat - and a looming conversational black hole - when it dawns on me that small talk (as an icebreaker I've asked if she's explored Melbourne's laneways, to which she replies she hasn't had time) isn't her thing.

I can only hope she'll come around eventually.

Van den Bosch, in Melbourne as a speaker at the LMFF Business Seminar, may be here to impart her wisdom, but she clearly has no intention of gushing. It could be modesty, or the challenge of conversing in English, but she is nothing if not reticent.

And why shouldn't she be? Although not available on these shores, H&M speaks for itself. Any Australian who has travelled to the northern hemisphere with a backpack and a limited budget is happy to put it in the same "wish we had it in Aus" bracket as the redoutable Topshop and Zara brands. Constant newness, catwalk looks and prices topping out at 300 euros for a premium buy are H&M hallmarks. And then there are the designer collaborations, on which more later.

Could another possible reason for her minimalist approach to self promotion be that behind the lilting Swedish accent there lies a woman of steel, more interested in price points and processes than socialising and small talk? Very likely. Van den Bosch has worked in the fashion industry her whole adult life. Stints as a senior designer, consultant and teacher pre-date the stratospheric rise of H&M since she took up with the brand 20 years ago.

"I didn't have an office and it was very chaotic, as they were rebuilding at the time," she recalls of her first day at H&M HQ. "At that time H&M was stocked in a handful of countries and employed seven designers. It now employs 100. Globalisation and computers have changed everything."

And how. H&M has production offices all over the world and operates around 17,000 stores. Ranges are planned over a year ahead. It seems military precision - along with a crystal ball - is key to the job. But this predilection for order also masks a deep respect for creativity.

"We're structured to react very quickly to the market, so we have teams for different categories and we listen to our customers," she says. "We also like to surprise the customer occasionally." So rather than "interpreting" directly from the catwalk, which leads at best to "sameness" at worst to law suits, H&M adds its own touch to each range, injecting key signature pieces to keep customers on their toes. This is no mean feat when you consider that new product appears in stores almost constantly, with just one press collection released seasonally for the 'H&M journal'.

Frequently hailed as the mother of designer collaborations - from H&M's first ever partnership with Karl Lagerfeld to the line of high profile love-ins that followed - with star labels including Stella McCartney, Viktor & Rolf, Kylie Minogue and many more - van den Bosch allows herself a glimmer of excitement (from behind vintage spectacles) as she talks about H&M's forthcoming collaboration with Matthew Williamson.

"Matthew loves patterns and prints," she says, an all but imperceptible increase in volume signifying a corresponding upswing of zeal. The UK designer's collection, which releases later this month to around 200 key H&M stores internationally, will include a 20-piece full-wardrobe womenswear offer. Williamson will also use the collaboration to launch his first menswear line.

Such is the power of H&M.

Van den Bosch seems non-plussed by the suggestion that designer collaborations present particular benefits or challenges for both parties. But if she's cool on the subject, Williamson and his predecessors must be wise to what's in it for them. An 'in' with a mass market power house like H&M allows any designer to disseminate his or her brand with lightening speed to a broad cross section of the consuming public.

Unfortunately, unless it's through unofficial channels such as eBay, it's unlikely Australians will form part of that test market. Clearly no spinner of false dreams, van den Bosch says flatly that there are no immediate plans for H&M to come to Australia. As she reels off the sites of H&M's growing Asian presence; including Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing, I can only hope she'll come round eventually.