H&M Partners With The Whitney Museum And Jeff Koons on New Fifth Avenue Flagship

Swedish retailer H&M is gearing up to open their largest flagship at Fifth Avenue and 48th Street in the heart of Manhattan. The store will be 57,000 square feet and the company just announced is being designed to look like an art museum. H&M is teaming up with artist Jeff Koons on the July 17 opening in conjunction with Koon's highly anticipated retrospective at the Whitney Museum of Art, running June 27 to Oct. 19. Koons is best known for his "balloon" sculptures.

Koons designed a limited-edition Balloon Dog handbag for H&M that will be sold in select markets for $49.95, as well as online starting July 17. The handbag will also be sold at the Whitney during the retrospective, which H&M is sponsoring.

"It's one of our most important openings of the year," said a spokeswoman. "This is the first time H&M has partnered with an artist and sponsored a museum show in the U.S."

"The partnership with H&M was really exciting for me," Koons said. "The chance to showcase one of my most popular works to a new generation of people was inspiring. H&M delivers great fashion season after season and [it will be] nice to see my work at their new store."

The Yellow Balloon Dog will be blown up to cover the flagship's five-story windows with a message reading "Fashion Loves Art" to celebrate the store opening.