KENZO

"– We are here for the KENZO clothes. They are different and cool, shout the customers Josephine and Tove to drown out the music. Their teenage faces glow with anticipation as they squeeze into the middle of the long queue that already winds around the block. They have been here since seven o'clock in the morning. In previous years when H&M released their designer collections, chaos and fights broke out as customers struggled to be the first in the store. Therefore, H&M's website has clear instructions on how customers should behave: If you arrive before the store has opened, please stand at the end of the line."

"The entire facade is covered by a gigantic KENZO banner. KENZO is known for its vibrant patterns and for mixing luxurious fashion with youthful streetwear, which has been highlighted in the massive pre-advertising. Just inside the entrance doors, about forty H&M employees, mostly young women, dance to the music like a gospel choir, doing the wave, clapping their hands over their heads and chanting in chorus: – KENZO, KENZO, KENZO! As the clock approaches nine, the intensity increases. The staff counts down: – 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1! Exactly at the stroke of the hour, the Securitas guards lift the barriers. Customers are flooding into the store where t-shirts, tops, dresses, and caps in KENZO's plaid pattern await."