For Immediate Release

New York, NY
April 28, 2003
H&M MAKES A SPLASH WITH HEIDI KLUM

New Campaign Features Top International Model
in This Summer’s Hottest Swimwear

H&M, Europe’s leading fashion retailer, announced today the company’s new campaign for the summer/swimwear season featuring Supermodel Heidi Klum. Shot on the island of Virgin Gorda in the West Indies, Klum appears in H&M designs that showcase the season’s hottest trends; from low-cut boy short bikini bottoms in vintage-inspired prints to soft-triangular tops with beaded tie strings.

Photographed by world-renowned Italian photographer Mario Sorrenti, the new ads will be shown in all 14 countries where H&M has retail locations. In the U.S., the ads will appear in the June issues of magazines such as Cosmopolitan, Jane, Vibe, Marie Claire, Lucky, Elle and Interview, and in metro media outlets such as Time Out New York and The Improper Bostonian. The campaign will also be supported by in-store displays, the H&M web site (www.hm.com) and on outdoor billboards in the New York metro area. The summer in-store campaign, which also features Klum, will begin Friday, May 9.

“Our new swimwear collection campaign reinforces H&M’s commitment to offer customers stylish, high-quality designs at prices that make fashion affordable; and who better to model these features than Heidi Klum,” explained Karen Belva, public relations manager, H&M. “The campaign highlights our collection’s diverse array of styles and patterns, appealing to a variety of shoppers’ individual tastes.”

Originally from Germany, Klum now resides in New York City and is one of the world’s most recognizable models. She is the latest in a long line of model celebrities who have appeared in H&M advertisements. H&M has previously featured Iman, Christy Turlington, Bridget Fonda, Johnny Depp, Benicio Del Toro, and Claudia Schiffer in its ads.

This year’s swimwear collection, created by H&M’s in-house designers, features soft, supple quick-drying materials in styles ranging from feminine, vintage-inspired pieces to bolder ensembles incorporating exotic motifs like tropical flowers, batik, animal and Hawaiian prints. The collection also features a new bikini, called “Water,” which retails for $9.00/piece. Ten percent of the sales from the “Water” suit will directly benefit Water Aid, an organization that improves access to and the quality of water for people in Asia and Africa. Offering varied styles and prices, this year’s swimwear ranges in price from $7.50 for bikini separates to $17 for a one-piece suit.

H&M is Europe’s leading fashion retailer offering fashion and quality at the best price. Marketing its own brand of clothing with a team of 95 in-house designers, H&M receives daily deliveries of new fashion styles and sells more than 600 million garments a year. H&M opened its first store in Sweden in 1947 and expanded with the first U.S. store on Fifth Avenue in New York City in 2000. Today, H&M has 54 U.S. stores, primarily in the Northeast region, and globally has more than 800 stores in 14 countries. H&M has more than 30,000 employees all working to the same philosophy: to provide fashion and quality at the best price. To visit H&M’s web site please go to http://www.hm.com.

Contact: Julie Lin, (212) 645-6900 x145
Julie@jerichopr.com