Today at 11am H&M (STO:HMB) flung open the doors of its pristine new four-storey shop in Shanghai's bustling Lu Wan shopping heartland. The crowd of shoppers who had been waiting since early morning escalated to 700 people. And when the store opened at 11am they rushed to get in and get a hold of H&M's own collection, involving of-the-moment fashion and wardrobe essentials for men, women, teens and children, as well as the just launched limited edition "H&M Loves Kylie" line.

The shopping fervour in-store stemmed from a tidal wave of excitement that kick-started the previous night at a fabulous party, where a jaw-dropping performance by Kylie Minogue provided the ultimate fanfare to H&M's arrival in Asia.

Last night Shanghai's glass dome Science Museum was set alight to herald H&M's Shanghai debut as well as the international launch, four weeks ahead of the rest of the world, of the "H&M Loves Kylie" capsule beachwear collection.

Arriving guests were serenaded by a three-hundred-strong female choir singing acapella Kylie songs, before entering a glittering kingdom where the Science Museum's 2,000 square metre floor was transformed into a shimmering sea of 100 kilos of Swarovski crystals. And five million mirrored disco ball squares covered everything from a gyrating surf board where people had their picture taken to Ming Dynasty-style vases full of complimentary mirrored pop badges to commemorate the occasion, and Studio 54 disco-lush revolving circular beds were mirror-clad and laden with sparkling silver cushions. Sparkle was also added to the event by Shanghai's starry likes including: Asian film star Zhao Wei; top model Du Juan and TV star Lee Xiao Ran.

The star to spot though became show-stoppingly apparent: At ten o'clock, to the sound of gongs, the choir (wearing silver H&M tracksuits) filled the steps of a magnificent 8 metres high Busby Berkeley-style tiered stage set and Kylie was elevated from below on a twinkling mirrored tower, wearing a specially designed dress by H&M's Head of Design Margareta van den Bosch. As she belted out her Can't Get You Out of My Head hit, twenty dancers sporting beach-cool "H&M Loves Kylie" aqua print sarong dresses, bikini tops, head scarves and large shades danced on the silver stage in front of her.

A shower of silver confetti and gasp-inducing fireworks provided the spellbinding finale to a glistening evening. But the buzz and energy didn't fizzle out even after Science Museum party goers danced until midnight as the shopping frenzy in the new store today revealed.

The new Shanghai H&M store is situated at 645-659 Middle Huai Hai Road.

Film material from the event: Windows Media mms://qstream-wm.qbrick.com/00416/00416_4062_wis_l.wmv

QuickTime http://qstream-down.qbrick.com/00416/00416_4062_l.mov

To download press pictures please see: www.hm.com.

H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB (H&M) was established in Sweden in 1947. The company's business concept is to offer fashion and quality at the best price. H&M is quoted on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. Today there are around 1,400 H&M stores in 28 countries. H&M has more than 60,000 employees and achieved sales including VAT in 2006 of SEK 80,081 million. H&M has a wide product range that is divided into a number of different concepts for women, men, teenagers, children and cosmetics. The company's clothing collections are created by its own designers, pattern makers and buyers. For further information visit www.hm.com.

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