>> The four day celebration at H&M's relaunched six-floor Oxford Circus flagship store isn't quite over yet but for my part, I just wanted to check in with a few of my own added footnotes.
1) I haven't done a design collaboration with H&M as some people mistakenly said on Twitter. I've just styled the indoor area (where you immediately walk into the stores) and the two main windows (dubbed A and B) using my favourite bits from H&M's collections. They've also kindly hung tags on my favourite pieces so as to confuse shoppers who are going to be thinking "Who the f*** is Susie Bubble and why is her name on this indigo print jacket?"
2) It wasn't my idea to use the word "Curate" in the signage. You know how I feel about people randomly "curating" things in a fashion context. H&M called the shots on that one. Perhaps they felt "styled" sounded a bit parochial or strange in so much that I'm not really a stylist of the traditional sort. "Picked" or "Chosen" might have sounded a bit boring. Oh well, it's just word pedantry. I'll go with it this time.
3) Someone asked me what my inspiration was for the styling. Can one talk of inspiration when it's merely picking out my favourite bits? It has to be said, for the windows, I went with more concrete "trend stories" (get me, going all stylist on you) - i.e. monochrome textures and navy relaxed layers. For the indoor area, it was a bit more Bubble Bubble. As in, prints, colours, layers and all that jazz.
4) Everyone remarked that the black high ponytailed wigs were an ode to my own hairstyle. I'm not sure that was entirely intentional but it does look like there are currently a few Bubble heads floating around in and around the store. The top knot would have been self-image overkill.
5) The store opened at 1pm precisely on Friday, led by the hyperactive shiny happy people H&M staff (I'm assured they weren't given training courses on how to be "happy" and "enthusiastic"). They let rip on Gangnam Style and Rihanna's We Found Love. I felt like I needed the t-shirt to join in.
6) The store is a far cry from the flagship which I trudged around in my youth, when there was only one H&M store in London. I remember rushing in there to fight for those CdG and Stella McCartney collaborations. It was high time this much forgotten branch got a facelift.
7) The taxi driver who gave me a lift in the specially branded H&M Oxford Circu cab, let me lark about in the front seat despite the fact I don't have a license. Turns out there's no seat next to the driver's seat. Just dead empty space. Weird, that.
