H&M used London Fashion Week to prove one show can generate months of creative value.
On September 18, the retailer staged a show for its Studio collection in front of 700 guests at 180 The Strand, turning the space into one part runway, one part concert and one part cultural activation. The aim was never just spectacle, but also to turn the single night into a social content engine.
“We believe in liberating fashion for all,” Jörgen Andersson, H&M’s chief creative officer, told Glossy. “People do not live [life] in one style. It is like Spotify. You listen to different music depending on the day. Fashion is the same. Our job is to be present in all those moments.”
Andersson described the show as a broadcast platform. “In the past, a show was about hoping for PR pickup,” he said, pointing to the runway show formats of luxury brands. “Today, it is a stage where you broadcast different messages to different audiences, and you create them all from the same moment. That makes the return stronger.”
H&M has already been experimenting with this approach. In September 2024, the brand opened London Fashion Week with a Charli XCX concert at the Copper Box Arena tied to its autumn collection. Two months later, on November 20, it staged a surprise takeover of Times Square with the singer, announced just half an hour before, drawing thousands to a pop-up performance and broadcasting it across H&M’s billboards.
Last month’s London show leaned further into performance, with a more evolved strategy. Seventy models, including Romeo Beckham, Paloma Elsesser, Alex Consani, Iris Law and Lila Moss, walked in three “acts” tied to different upcoming Studio collection product drops. The first drop was made available to shop the very next day. Lola Young made her runway debut and performed her songs “Messy” and “d£aler” wearing a look from the brand’s Fall 2025 collection.
Earlier in the day, in H&M’s show space, discussion panels curated by Perfect Magazine founder Katie Grand featured influencer Susie Lau, model Amelia Gray, designer David Kappo and filmmaker Aidan Zamiri, while Norwegian photographer Sølve Sundsbø led a workshop on modern image-making. The night ended with an after-party featuring music artists Honey Dijon, Pxssy Palace and Miss Jason.
According to data platform Launchmetrics, H&M ranked as the second most valuable brand on the London Fashion Week schedule, following Burberry, with a total media impact value of $12.7 million. Thai actress Yoko’s Instagram post of herself arriving at the show drove 360,000 likes and $609,000 in MIV — Yoko has 1.4 million Instagram followers — while a post by fashion model Halima Aden (302,100 followers on TikTok) added $211,000 in MIV. On Instagram, H&M’s 12 videos drew about 24.5 million views. On TikTok, its 18 event posts saw a total of more than 45 million views, with several videos surpassing 3 million and one topping 11 million. The full event film on YouTube has 5,400 views, while a Twitch stream by gamer Marlon Lundgren Garcia reached more than 470,000 viewers.
The production was built for content capture. Monumental screens, multiple camera angles and theatrical staging made the footage play out as well across online platforms as it did in the courtyard. “It was everything at once: a show, a concert, a club night,” Andersson said. “That’s who we are.”
Casting and audience choices also reinforced H&M’s positioning. “Lola is London today,” Andersson said. “She represents artistry, not just celebrity. That confidence made her the right fit.” The planned move of guests stepping onto the catwalk mid-show went viral on TikTok, extending the night’s life far beyond the venue. This included streamer Marlon Lundgren Garcia, who wore a wool coat and pinstriped blazer from H&M Atelier.
Also attending the show were H&M employees and loyalty members, who were seated alongside editors and stylists. And many filmed the show as it was happening. “You cannot talk about liberating fashion if the audience is only insiders,” Andersson said. “If one young person leaves inspired to start something, that is a success.”
Jenna Barnet, CEO of entertainment agency The Sunshine Company, said modern shows are designed to function as content studios.
“The investment is huge, so brands create multiple scenes and moments that feed social channels for weeks,” she said. “In many cases, the show and campaign budgets merge into one cultural investment.”
She added, “Even at the smaller level, new names are using shows more thoughtfully as content opportunities rather than pure runways. It is no longer just about showing clothes. It is about building material that will live on.”
H&M is an example of how a multi-faceted event content strategy plays out on the big stage. Andersson said the goal is to make inspiration from that runway feel like luxury while staying democratic through the access. “Luxury is for 1% of the world,” he said. “We work for the other 99. It should feel like you are getting $1 million of inspiration and paying $50.”
The challenge for H&M, according to Andersson, is to stay unpredictable. “The minute people know your next move, you are boring,” Andersson said, talking about the brand’s next show, which is still confidential. “We want to be like chasing soap in the shower. Just when you think you have us, we slip in another direction.”
