Monki Around

I'd like to say the title was a very original/witty creation of my own but alas, Property Week beat me to it.  Actually trusty Property Week was supposed to my only source of information regarding H&M's physical store UK expansion plans with the primarily Swedish chain Monki.  I hear Monki banded about randomly on many a Scandi fashion blog (overriding theme of all of them - that Scandi girls and boys are sickeningly cool looking...) and I have been Monki-converted, the one time I did pop into the stores and didn't know where to look because I was either distracted by the graphic treatment of the stores (Monki creates its own fantasy-driven worlds for their stores, disregarding the one-shop-fits-all method) or the clothes which are just a little sub-Topshop prices that whilst being trend-driven are never overly referential and seem to fit into a style mould of their own that I can't describe as anything but Scandi-cool.  Urgh...I think I may have used that phrase in an interview I gave at Stockholm Fashion Week and even as I said it, I could feel my eyeballs wincing at the non-specific vagueness of that term...

All I can say is that what the clothes exude is something that I feel courses through the streetstyle of Stockholm or Copenhagen, and at the admirable pricing,cheap sports jerseys, therefore would make it a pleasing addition to our busting UK high street.  I also like the fact that whilst Monki is a chain, it gives off the impression of having a spirit about it that is independent which is well-reflected in its store fits,cheap Coach outlet buy, website and now publication which I stumbled upon accidentally.

On my last day of Stockholm Fashion Week though, I was fortunate enough to run into Eleonore Nygards who I knew from her own blog and her work at Modette magazine (blub blub...).  She's now doing work for Monki and has recently project managed the first issue of Monki magazine which I got my hands on.  She also let slip that the e-store for Monki as well as COS will be launching in the UK next year.  Not sure if that's a piece of confidential information but it of course would make sense as H&M's e-commerce arm is about to launch this month.  The magazine though which adds to the publishing activities that both COS and H&M do now on a regular basis was as expected, wonderful in illustrative aesthetics and also goes beyond the usual mounds of product listings by adding editorials and little featurettes. 

Back to Property Week though - it says that H&M haven't made a comment regarding opening stores in the UK it's only rumoured that they're looking for London locations.  The article suggests that perhaps the British high street is too over-saturated and crammed with stores for Monki to get a look in.  But lo and behold,Spain Soccer Jersey, Monki has just opened its first store in Hong Kong which I suppose does mean I can get my Monki fix on my next trip back to the motherland but still, I'm sure Oxford/Regent street can budge up on the store fronts to make room for some Monki action - who's up for replacing that awful strip at the beginning of Oxford Street (TCR end...) or the random shops selling luggage with Monki?