COS vs. MONKI: H&M’s SISTERS SCRAP IT OUT

Wandering around the shopping capital of Soho, you would be excused thinking how disconnected the range of shops are. In fact, with a little hunt around online, it soon becomes clear that the retail giant H&M has started a huge scale take-over not only of London’s main retail centers, but all across the country and even on a global scale. The two newest jewels in H&M’s crown are COS and Monki whose flagship London stores are five minutes away from each other but house distinctly different styles. In their short fashion life the two sister brands have already populated a worldwide market and garnered a serious fashion following from bloggers and magazine editors alike and this interest has boosted their fashion kudos immeasurably. 

This year Monki launched its flagship store in Carnaby Street muscled in between a host of complementary quirky teenage brands such as Irregular Choice and Cheap Monday. Just down the road in Regents Street is COS’s flagship London store suitably surrounded by high end high street stores such as Banana Republic and Jaeger.

Both brands have set themselves apart from the UK high street’s offering with their distinctive identities and clever destination choices. COS stores now inhabit spaces in both of the London Westfield shopping centers, Covent Garden, Selfridges, Birmingham and Glasgow, giving them a widespread following around London and beyond. Monki launched its brand in the UK with a shop-within-a-in-shop in Selfridges in 2011, and the launch of its flagship store in Carnaby Street this year has cemented its path into the UK fashion scene.  Both brands also have a distinctive online presence, using beautifully designed websites to further publicise and sell their wares.

COS, which stands for ‘Collection Of Style’, was launched by H&M in March of 2007 as an extension of the previous success of H&M’s celebrity collaborations with designers such as Stella McCartney, Karl Lagerfeld and Victor & Rolf. These highly popular collaborations boosted the company’s confidence to move forward and create a higher priced, style-focused range, but felt that H&M’s current customers would be “confused” by a sudden style change and price hike. H&M’s investor relations manager Nils Vinge told Drapers in 2007 that "there are a lot of customers that don't shop at H&M for whatever reason, and we want them. They are likely to be shopping across the designer and high street sectors. COS will benefit from logistics and economies of scale so we can keep our costs low." (drapersonline.com). H&M acquired 60% of Monki’s owner Fabric Scandinavien, which also operates casualwear retailer Weekday and denim brand Cheap Monday in 2008 before snapping up the remaining 40% last year. 

 

Both COS and Monki have used very different takes on contemporary shop design and feel like complete polar opposites to the vast, shiny, and sometimes-tacky design of the H&M stores. H&M is very much a shop for everyone, serving the needs of young teens, all the way through to business wear. H&M have used Monki and COS to target markets that would not consider H&M as serving a more individual style, making sure that both brands have a design philosophy that can both compliment and contrast with what H&M already offers.

I believe COS’s success lies in how each store feels classically simple, elegant and meticulously thought out; extremely high end for a high street store. Unlike the unashamedly ‘superstore’ feel of the numerous H&M stores populating Oxford and Regents Streets, COS is not designed to stick out by use of bright white and neon displays, blasting music or multicoloured mannequins. Noticing the flagship store instead feels like a joyful discovery, like you’ve wandered in on a well known but well hidden fashion secret. The clean, contemporary layout gives the customer space to peruse the varying colour collections; their famous monochrome section is full of brilliant fashion forward takes on staple garments. Every new season at COS also features a small colour and print palette that contrasts perfectly with the monochrome section of the shop. It’s this clever but simple ‘capsule wardrobe’ approach that creates brilliant seasonal collections full of highly wearable staple and standout pieces that mix as well with H&M jeans as they would with a Jil Sander coat.

Monki is decidedly different in its store setups. Carnaby Street has been known as a youthful fashion hub since the 1960s and has had a revival in the last couple of years, Monki and its outlandish shop window is just further proof of this. Unlike COS’s shop front, Monki is hard to miss, full of glitter, shine and colour. Each Monki store is designed around a specific unusual theme that enhances the playful atmosphere of the clothes. The Carnaby Street store is based on a ‘magical sea of scallops’ and hanging sparkles, vibrant mixes of yellow, pink and green and an ingenious scalloped edged metal carousel clothing display, instantly surrounds you. Worth noting too are the amorphous soft ‘Monkis’ toys that are found scattered around the store and which form part of the brand’s identity. This shop is not for the faint hearted, as well as the bright colours and quirky characters, you are instantly blasted by 70s disco that complements the glitter-happy atmosphere very well. The design offering ranges from voluminous shirts, jackets and dresses, to sparkly mini skirts and patterned leggings. Many of these items would work well as quirky basics alongside COS’s statement pieces, or co-operate with a classic colourful H&M outfit.

Price-wise Monki is far closer to H&M than COS and provides great design quality with it. I was happily surprised to find all manner of fashion forward garments on my trip to the store that far surpassed H&M’s design and fabric quality for H&M prices. Generally nothing went over the £50 mark and was cohesive in the company’s design spirit. Being high-end high street COS prices are of course far higher than any you’d find in H&M. Cheapest items like basic t-shirts start at about £20 and the most expensive investment pieces can go up to £200-300. These prices are not unreasonable; compared to many high street stores this particular chain invests in highly talented designers and allows them to use a vast range of quality materials in the final garment, notably using real leather, suede, cashmere, wool and a penchant for beautifully draped heavy jersey. 

I believe the best experience about shopping with COS has to be the superb customer service. Every time I’ve shopped in COS I have always been welcomed, asked if I needed any help, never suspiciously followed around the store and always assisted to find the right size, colour, pattern, style etc. without any hint of boredom or disdain from any staff member. The friendliness is in no way overeager or faked, it is simply the best service I’ve received in a London fashion store. The staff members in Monki were visible and did answer my questions on sizing, but were in no way as enthusiastic or as well trained as COS.

Monki currently has 49 shops internationally and is hoping that the success of the flagship store in Carnaby Street will allow them to roll out another 10 stores in the London area and at least one store in every major UK city. COS has grown as a global brand over five years and will continue to do so as it cultivates it staple fashion cult label.

COS Online____Monki Online