The H&M cult

Stores open, stores close - and no one much cares. But the weird fascination with the expansion of the Swedish-based clothing chain H&M - dutifully reported over the months by Roderick in the other room - is something to behold. Curbed L.A. puts a little more fuel in the fire by noting that an H&M in West Hollywood is on the way. This might or might not be at the Beverly Center, depending on which blog you're reading. The only store that's been announced - and is on the H&M Web site - will open in Pasadena on Sept. 21. We're pretty confident on that one. Rick Caruso's new Glendale center, Americana at Brand, will also have an H&M, according to a press release put out by Caruso's company. Another possible location is the revamped Topanga Plaza. After that, it gets veeery murky - maybe the new Sunset Millennium, maybe a couple of spots in Orange County. Also confusing is that some stores carry women's clothes, some men's and some both. What's amazing about the buzz is that the H&M phenomenon is years old. Read what the International Herald Tribune wrote about a store opening in Paris:

It was love, at least at first sight. When H&M inaugurated its flagship store last month, shoppers mobbed it until the Paris police deployed crowd-control railings. Even now, customers line up on the sidewalk every morning waiting to get into the store. What is driving this manic push to buy? Mostly cheap chic. Sunglasses at 60 francs ($10) a pair that look as stylish as 1,200-franc models from Emmanuel Khan or Giorgio Armani, a woman's blazer for 250 francs, a pair of pants for 120 francs.

The H&M look, simple and functional, in a way amounts to a fashion statement in favor of informality and a solvent bank account. To characterize this Swedish style, French copywriters will probably settle for the word "sympa," meaning casual, even trendy, and physically and socially comfortable. Emerging from the store with bulging shopping bags, Evelyne De Rocha, 42, rated H&M "a store for the society we live in. It's got clothes for everyone, clothes you can wear — and cheap."

That piece came out March 13, 1998. Whatever happened to L.A. being a trend-setter?