H&M, Jeff Koons and The Whitney Hosted The Opening of Largest H&M Store In The World

H&M, Hennes & Mauritz, celebrated its collaboration with iconic artist, Jeff Koons at the opening of its new flagship store on Fifth Avenue. Fashionistas and art fans alike came to the new store on Fifth Avenue at 48th Street to be the first to shop the new collection and the coveted Balloon Dog (Yellow) handbag. Jeff Koons, Olivia Wilde and Ashley Benson enjoyed food, drinks and a special performance by British sensation, Birdy.

"I'm very happy to be working with H&M. It's really exciting to be celebrating the opening of their flagship store and I'm very proud the bag," said Jeff Koons. Art is something that is accessible, we interact with it all the time and H&M makes fashion the same way."

As a part of the Jeff Koons for H&M collaboration, H&M has created a specially-designed, limited-edition leather handbag featuring the Balloon Dog (Yellow), one of the artist's most iconic works for just $49.95. The Balloon Dog leather handbag will also be carried in select markets across the US including Los Angeles, Chicago and Dallas, as well as online at hm.com beginning July 17th, 2014. A select number of pieces will also be sold at the Whitney Museum of American Art during the Retrospective as well as on Whitney.org.

"It's so smart of H&M to pick an artist like Jeff Koons and to collaborate with the Whitney Museum, and vice versa," stated Olivia Wilde at last night's event with H&M and Jeff Koons. "As a company, H&M's always ahead of the game with fashion. It's such a cool thing to have an iconic image on a piece of fashion - it's says you are into art and fashion and it's chic."

"H&M is so versatile, you can get anything you want here and there are always styles for everybody," said Ashley Benson who also attended last night's event for H&M and Jeff Koons.

Guests who attended the event had the opportunity to be the first to view the location's exciting 57,000 square feet interior with features such as an impressive facade of windows, four-story atrium and a 740 square foot LED screen. Timeless finishes including green and white marble tiles, an opulent wall of mirrors, distinct herringbone wood work and a full concierge shopping service all created a truly luxurious experience for the flagship's first visitors. The new flagship store will be the first in the country to offer a full concierge service which will create a truly unique shopping experience. It will also be the first store in New York to carry the full H&M Home collection.

The store will open to the public at 12:00 p.m. on Thursday, July 17th with a grand opening celebration. On opening day the first 1,000 customers in line will receive an Access to Fashion Pass valued between $10 and $1000 as well as giveaways and the chance to win free passes to the Jeff Koons Retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art. To further celebrate the grand opening, customers who bring garments to be recycled in H&M's Garment Collecting program before the store opens will be entered to win gift cards valued between $50 and $100.

H&M was established in Sweden in 1947. Today there are 318 stores in the U.S. and approximately 3,200 stores in 54 markets worldwide. H&M at 589 Fifth Avenue is the 13th store in Manhattan. New York City has the largest concentration of H&M stores in the country, employing over 1,400 people. For image and video content from the H&M 589 Fifth Avenue opening celebration, please visit here.

H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB (publ) was founded in Sweden in 1947 and is quoted on NASDAQ OMX Stockholm. The company's business concept is to offer fashion and quality at the best price. In addition to H&M, the group includes the brands & Other Stories, Cheap Monday, COS, Monki and Weekday as well as H&M Home. The H&M Group has around 3,200 stores in 54 markets including franchise markets. In 2013, sales including VAT were SEK 150,090 million and the number of employees is more than 116,000. For further information, visit hm.com.