Why H&M is jumping on resale at Cos (2024)

FAQs

What is the difference between H&M and COS? ›

So what's the real difference between H&M and COS? Honestly? No much. H&M explained on their website that COS offers “reinvented classics and wardrobe essentials” all of which are “designed to live beyond the season”.

The H&M group includes eight clearly defined brands – H&M, COS, Monki, Weekday, & Other Stories, Cheap Monday, H&M Home and ARKET. Together our brands offer customers a wealth of styles and trends in fashion, beauty, accessories and homewares – as well as experiences that now also include modern, healthy food.

In 2007 H&M Group launched a new brand, Cos. Short for Collection of Style, the brand aims to offer modern, yet timeless and functional garments for men and women. Rather than launching new items every week, Cos only launches two collections per year, focusing on quality and design.

COS is a fashion brand part of the H&M Group. Parent company H&M owns retail brands including H&M, Other Stories, Monki, Arket.

“With slower supply chain (unlike super-fast Zara), they have not responded as quickly to rapid shifts in taste and increasing fragmentation in the consumer market with many more small segments. As a result, they have had more markdowns, promotions and less inspiration for the consumer.

And it's not even this $549 dress, featuring an avian design. No, it is this black, white, and gold beaded dress, which is selling for $649, the most that the retailer has ever charged for a single item.

The owners of Zara (Inditex) and H&M (H&M Group) are the world's two biggest players in fashion retail, and as such are under intense scrutiny as the market undergoes changes accelerated by the health crisis.

COS is an abbreviation of “Collection of Style.” It is owned by fast-fashion giant H&M but operates independently. Since opening its first store in 2007 in London, COS has grown to 167 locations and 30 markets worldwide; online shopping is available in 19 of those markets.

H&M's story begins when founder Erling Persson opens the first store in Västerås, Sweden, selling women's clothing. The store is called Hennes.

Who owns H&M USA? ›

The Persson family, the founders and owners of H&M, originally invested $180 million in the foundation. One of the foundation's projects includes the Green Machine, a recycling technology that would allow clothing to be recycled in a similar way to aluminum can recycling.

The Secret to H&M's Success: Fast Fashion

Aimed at young, fashion-conscious urban consumers, their products are trendy and they're cheap, bordering on disposable. Fast fashion retailers make their profits by having a high merchandise turnover and by constantly resupplying the product pipeline with the latest trends.

Cos creative director Karin Gustafsson: 'There's nothing unique about taking inspiration from art' The synergy between art and fashion has always been strong, and it has been part of the Cos universe since the very beginning.

And, yet, they are just a sampling of the creative talent that Swedish apparel brand COS has pulled into its orbit. Marked by Scandinavian and Japanese influences, COS (“Collection Of Style”) is a seasonal, more mature alternative to parent company H&M's fast-fashion approach.