Hennes & Mauritz Plans New Retail Stores for 2013

The house of Fast-Fashion, Hennes & Mauritz has announced that it will open a new franchise of freestanding stores for 2013. H&M's new retail chain is rumored to be their solid attempt to embrace the high fashion market, so expect the new label to come with hefty price tags.



"Like COS, which today is very successful with good profitability, the new chain of stores will be independent and complement the other offerings from the group," H&M CEO Karl-Johan Persson said. "We have great faith in this new brand and we see considerable potential for further initiatives."

The top secret project does not take off from their expensive in-store Collection of Style (COS) line. No brand name for this new store concept has been revealed yet, but the new retail stores might as well be dubbed H&M Luxe.

Life After Lohan: Esteban Cortazar Finds His Way Back to the Runway

After his trauma dealing with Lindsay Lohan and her attempt at a collection at the House of Emanuel Ungaro, Esteban Cortazar has finally found a silver lining, he is relaunching his own label again this 2012.

His eponymous line was much celebrated when Cortazar launched it first in 2002 as afresh-faced and talented designer at the age 17. Cortazar closed shop in 2007 when he signed up as Creative Director at Ungaro at just 23. But his career was marred by Ungaro's "Lindsay Lohan" phase and eventually resigned.

Today, he has partnered with the online boutique Net-A-Porter which will feature his 17-look capsule collection on July 11 with prices ranging from $270 to $3,000. Cortazar has called the Net-A-Porter collaboration "a good first step, without going too far and too fast." Sounds Good. Unlike his stint at Ungaro, if it proves successful Cortazar can look into running his own design house in a few years.