India a priority market, says Amit Kothari, Regional Marketing & Communications Manager, South Asia, H&M
The spring season at H&M Home is all about colour, preparing for the brighter days ahead and creating springtime zen in your home. This Spring, it opens its doors to India by inviting light into living spaces with bright hues and playful shapes marking a new start for homes with optimism and joyfulness in focus.
H&M HOME is design-driven, offering fashion-forward decor and accessories for every room and style. With products for living, dining and kitchen, bed, bathroom and kids, the assortment will range from high-quality bed linen and timeless dinnerware to stylish textiles; with contemporary style and attention to detail at its core. By merging modern design and quality with sustainability and affordable prices, the brand enables interior lovers across the world to create a personal and modern space -- a place to feel at home.
The plethora of art, architecture, fashion, food, folklore, and the cultures of the world amalgamate into the design elements as the world is the source of inspiration. Artistic and bold details with sculptural elements in stylish vases, tufted and velvet cushions, and rugs embody the joy of springtime sunshine.
Find pleasure in your everyday life at home with comforting and bohemian-chic details made with organic cotton and FSC certified rattan. Stunning swirl patterned vases in thick glass, where golden details set the final touch are the perfect new additions to your home for the new year and new season.
Amit Kothari, Regional Marketing & Communications Manager, South Asia, H&M speaks to IANSlife about the launch in India.
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H&M has become one of India's favourite fashion brands. How does H&M Home plan to leverage and take advantage of this popularity?
Kothari: H&M aims to be the leading destination for style, creativity, and culture where we offer fashion and quality at the best price in a sustainable way. We are able to offer the latest fashion by having our own design teams and creating our own collections along with exciting collaborations. Our business concept of fashion and quality in a sustainable way is the key differentiator. We aim to make it possible for everyone to look and feel good and our products are designed and priced in such a way that we are able to cater to diverse consumer needs.
Similarly, H&M HOME has been so well received by our customers globally with its offering of modern design at great price points and therefore we are very excited to launch it for our customers in India. We see immense opportunity to drive our business concept of offering modern design and quality at the best price, in an inspiring and sustainable way, enabling interior lovers across the world to create a personal and modern space - a place to feel at home.
What truly makes H&M HOME stand out is the variety of natural materials and the increasing number of sustainable materials in the collections. Already 90 per cent of the brand's textile materials come from more sustainable sources, and for hard materials, we are using FSC certified wood, recycled plastic, recycled paper, and recycled glass. Having said that, we're excited to introduce interior products in line with the H&M business concept of "Fashion and quality at the best price in a sustainable way," and look forward to finally bringing the world of H&M HOME to our Indian customers.
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The pandemic has put the spotlight on homes and lifestyle, keeping this in mind do you believe the launch is well-timed ?
Kothari: The pandemic has made our homes more central than ever. We have been spending much more time at home, and these spaces have become incredibly defining aspects of our personalities. It has emerged as a place where we live, work, unwind, work out, meet up with close friends and family - and everything in between. - a place where we feel safe, but also a place for work, family time and recreational activities.
H&M has been present in India since 2015 and we have been constantly listening to our customers to understand their evolving needs. Our actions and plans have always been with our customers in focus, leading to more relevant and better experiences. We see so much potential in the Indian market and look forward to finally introducing H&M HOME to interior and design in the country, enabling them to create a personal and modern space - a place where they can feel at home. It is also an interesting market given that larger families often live together and share living spaces and these rooms are therefore reflective of collective life.
While the launch begins with online e-commerce, can we expect the brand to open stores across metros and if so when can we expect to see the first one take off?
Kothari: H&M India launched H&M HOME with a digital store on hm.com and on the e-commerce platform Myntra on 3rd March 2022. This will be followed by the introduction of H&M HOME in the existing Ambience Vasant Kunj store in New Delhi along with plans to open stores across existing stores. India is a priority market and therefore growing our physical footprint is part of our strategy. We see a great potential to open more stores in India however, the number and timeframe will be determined by a number of external factors. Our expansion strategy is to always open at the best business location, and we look at many different options at the same time.
How would you define the design aesthetic of H&M Home?
Kothari: H&M HOME is a design-driven interior brand wherein we are very receptive to trends beyond homeware. We have an ear on the ground to know what it is that people want from d�cor and are using this knowledge as a constant source of inspiration. We adapt these trends into interior products that suit our trend-sensitive audience. We cater to personal taste whilst keeping diversity as our focus, allowing us to be an inclusive brand that has something for everyone.
Offering a great and inspirational shopping experience with a varied and wide product range, we always strive to provide our customers with products that offer value for money and are of good quality, so that they can easily update their homes. Through design, price and quality H&M HOME make it possible for the customers to renew their home in a fun, easy and sustainable way. Our focus remains on high-quality products designed with expert craftsmanship that lasts for years.
What are your favourites from the collection?
Kothari: The team works so hard to make these collections, it becomes difficult to choose favourites! I am personally very focused on decluttering not only my workspace but also other parts of my house to keep it as clean as it may possibly be � I find it helps me clear my mind and focus more! Our Spring collections are focused on decluttering with storage solutions for the kitchen and the bathroom. For example, for the kitchen, we have different types of baskets and boxes, along with reusable bowls and bread bags to keep everything fresh and in its place.
