Comme des Garcons designer to create H&M collection

STOCKHOLM, April 3, 2008 (AFP) - Swedish cheap'n chic clothing chain H&M said on Thursday the Japanese founder of the Comme des Garcons fashion house, Rei Kawakubo, would guest design its autumn collection.

"Rei Kawakubo has been at the top of our wish list for a long time and we are thrilled that she has chosen to collaborate with us," H&M creative advisor Margareta van den Bosch said in a statement.

The Swedish retail giant said the launch of the collection would take place at the opening of H&M's second store in Tokyo at the beginning of November, and that the designer's creations would go on sale at its more than 1,500 other outlets around the world a few days later.

Since 2004, H&M has invited famous designers such as Karl Lagerfeld, Stella McCartney and Roberto Cavalli to design limited, high-end collections that have been sold at relatively low prices at its stores.

"I have always been interested in the balance between creation and business ... It is a fascinating challenge to work with H&M since it is a chance to take the dilemma to its extreme, and try to solve it," Kawakubo, who created Comme des Garcons in 1973, said in the statement.