On Tuesday night H&M celebrated its collaboration with iconic artist, Jeff Koons at the opening of its new flagship store on 589 5th Avenue. The VIP pre-opening event brought together fashionistas and art fans alike, along with celebrities Olivia Wilde and Ashley Benson with a special performance by British sensation, Birdy. I was quite excited that I got to meet Jeff Koons, he was extremely poised and really nice to everyone. Some of the lucky ones got bags signed by him too, so happy to be one of them!
“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.”
At the event, guests were the first to shop the new collection and the limited-edition Jeff Koons Balloon Dog leather handbag. The yellow Balloon Dog is one of the artist’s most iconic works, the bag retails for $49.95. Check here for the US store listings, it will be available for sale beginning July 17th.
The store is currently the biggest in the world, the 57,000 square feet store spans across five floors and will offer an H&M Home department, collections for ladies, men, kids, young ladies and young men, with separate “store within store” sections for accessories, and lingerie. The ladies floor was pretty impressive, you can basically find everything you can’t find in other H&M stores there and I really love the dedicated shoe section.
The store will open to the public at 12:00pm 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.
More photos after the jump…
My signed Jeff Koons x H&M Balloon Dog bag! Yay!
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Photos courtesy of H&M (all photos below)
Categories: art/design celebrities entertainment/events fashion h&m outfits
