H&M sister brand, Cos, is due in Australia by the end of the year, so what do locals have to look forward to? The first standalone Cos store in Ireland, which six weeks ago, may hold clues for what we can expect to see when Cos opens at The Strand on Elizabeth St in the Melbourne CBD. Cos, which stands for Collection of Style, is H&M’s second largest brand, having launched in 2007. The Cos brand has a slightly older target market than the main H&M brand, with higher price po
ints to reflect this positioning.
The Irish Cos store is housed in the former Tower Records building in Dublin’s Wicklow St and spans 574sqm over two floors.
It sells womenswear, menswear, and children’s wear, and follows Cos’ traditional minimalist design, using natural materials.
As Cos stocks the same collection throughout all 20 of its markets, its expected that the Australian offering won’t stray too far from this model.
Cos will also make its debut in Lisbon, Portugal later in the year. The Australian Cos store will be the first in the southern hemisphere.
In other news from large fast fashion houses, Stradivarius, the fashion chain from Inditex, owner of Zara, will open its first store in the UK – a flagship in London.
The Stradivarius store is to open in the northern hemisphere autumn/winter season, and comes a year after the brand launched a UK e-commerce site.
Stradivarius was founded in Spain in 1994, before being purchased by Inditex in 1999. It has 858 stores in 56 countries and targets females 20 to 25.
