Mirror, Mirror: H&M's slick campaign targets Philly

It appears fast-fashion retailer H&M believes in Philadelphia's emerging persona as a mecca for all things young, urbane, and affordably stylish.

On Thursday, the trendy Stockholm apparel company, also known as Hennes & Mauritz, launched a slick campaign to recruit millennials to its national sales force - with a particular focus on young people in Houston and Philadelphia.

Millennials, the company argues, are the future of fashion. They embody an entrepreneurial spirit and a creative energy the company says will help it continue its expansion in the United States - from the current 363 American H&Ms to more than 400 by year's end. (Ten of its current lot are in the Philadelphia region, including two in Center City blocks away from each other.)

H&M's nationwide media blitz boasts the hopeful phrase "Place of Possible" and includes a continuous loop of 11 two-minute videos playing in stores nationwide and online. In them, 50 employees chat about the benefits of their H&M careers: an eventual five weeks of vacation, the ability to move up the ranks quickly, and a competitive, retail-world salary. (H&M starts its sales associates at $10.40 an hour.)

In the Philadelphia and Houston markets, the company is taking out a barrage of online and print ads. Eight digital billboards are planned to hover over Philadelphia highways, including two near the Walt Whitman Bridge, and one along Route 202 near the King of Prussia mall.

Why the focus on Philadelphia?

"In this particular area, there is a growing need to fill positions as people move on," said Jennifer Ward, spokeswoman for H&M USA. She was referring to both college matriculation and employees being promoted from entry-level positions.

And with no other major city having had a larger increase of 20-to-34-year-olds since 2006, according to a Pew Charitable Trusts report last year, H&M wanted to tap millennials' innate sense of entrepreneurship.

The brainchild of Daniel Kulle, president of H&M North America, the Place of Possible campaign will run indefinitely. Come September, H&M will kick off its college tour, visiting campuses nationwide to talk to students about a future with the company.

H&M's strategy seems a perfect fit with Philadelphia's current retail plan.

Though there may be fashion purists who long for a department store of Bloomingdale's stature or a Gucci-esque boutique to move downtown, what's really fueling the city's burgeoning fashion scene are the cost-conscious big-box stores: Zara, Uniqlo, Nordstrom Rack, Century 21. In two years, Century 21 will likely be one of the anchors of Fashion Outlets of Philadelphia at Market East, a collection of luxury-brand storefronts featuring discounted prices to replace the Gallery at Market East.

In the 15 years since H&M opened its first U.S. store in New York, it has built a cool reputation, collaborating with coveted European designers from Karl Lagerfeld to Stella McCartney. Sarah Jessica Parker recently wore an H&M gown to the Met Gala.

And at the Billboard Music Awards on Sunday night, models Kendall Jenner and Jourdan Dunn announced a forthcoming collaboration between H&M and - gasp - Balmain. Dressed in pieces from the collection, Dunn and Jenner flanked Balmain's creative director, Olivier Rousteing, on the red carpet.

It's a concept millennials are comfortable with: Mixing high-end brands with more reasonably priced pieces from Zara, Target, and H&M. And many of us - myself included - have been known to dress head-to-toe in H&M.

It's no wonder H&M was able to put together a campaign that will get people shopping in the store, if not applying for a job.

Indie music by a Swedish artist strums in the background while employees - not coincidentally wearing stylishly shrunken H&M clothing and accessories - rock piercings, man buns, and tattoos. In other words, these employees who hail from all over, including Ohio and California, look just like Philly hipsters.

They look especially ripe for social-media posting, and very cool in black-and-white film - especially Lena Keitt-Johnson.

With her tapered Afro and shredded jeans and tailored jacket, Johnson, 39, of Mount Airy, has been with H&M for 12 years, working out of Secaucus, N.J., as the company's noncommercial goods manager. She's traveled abroad, including to Sweden, where the food is great, she told me.

"At H&M, I was able to find my place," the Drexel University graduate says. "It literally is possible."

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@ewellingtonphl