The StormMove 3-layer shell jacket
Multinational fashion brand H&M is looking to stir up the outdoors clothing market with the development of its Move collection.
The Swedish company, best known for its competitively priced High Street fashions, is launching its range of technical outdoor wear, with the slogan ‘the outdoors is for everyone’.
Among the garments in the new collection is a waterproof jacket, the StormMove 3-layer shell, which retails at £139.99. The jacket boasts technical performance in both waterproofing and breathability at a price well below many comparable garments.
The range uses H&M’s own materials: StormMove, ThermoMove and DryMove. A company spokesperson said the garments make extensive use of recycled materials. They have been designed to hit the sweet spot between impressively high performance, durability, design, functionality, and affordability, the spokesperson added.
“To achieve this meant working closely with textile mill partners to rewrite the manufacturing process, as well as designers at Grand Studio, the expert outdoor agency.
“While each material underwent a series of rigorous performance tests, H&M Move’s StormMove 3-Layer Shell Jacket also proved itself in the wear test labs of Progressive Sports, an independent sports consultancy, where it demonstrated its bold breathability, waterproofness, thermoregulation, and functionality.”
Features include taped seams, ventilation, adjustable hoods and storage pockets.
The new StormMove jacket will be in H&M's stores today
Mfon Boman, H&M Move’s outdoor product manager, said: “With this collection, we want to inspire every Mover to get outside and enjoy the benefits of moving. While pieces are constructed to protect against the elements and are adjustable to weather conditions and body temperature, they can easily double as everyday streetwear as well.”
The range includes lightweight and technical StormMove jackets; padded ThermoMove vests; and trousers with four-way stretch.
Grough got its hands on StormMove 3-layer Jacket. We’ll be putting the garment to a full test over the next few weeks but our first impressions are of a jacket that should stand up to the elements in the UK outdoors.
Styling falls somewhere between the current outdoors look and an everyday shell garment. The fabric felt robust and is fairly stiff, but not particularly rustly. Sizing was pretty generous, at least a size above what we’d expect from our men’s medium sample.
The main zip is backed by a baffle to keep the weather out. The H&M jacket has pit zips, an adjustable hem with drawcord and spring toggles, and adjustable sleeve cuffs with hook-and-loop strips. It also has an adjustable hood with halo and front cords – in other words, all the things you’d expect to see in a technical outdoors jacket.
We’ve had the StormMove jacket out in some pretty filthy weather, with heavy rain and winds gusting up to 40mph and the jacket kept us dry and also had good breathability.
The StormMove 3-layer Jacket is available in women’s and men’s versions.
The move of such a mainstream brand into the more specialised area of the outdoors industry is interesting. The new jackets go on sale in the company’s stores today after being available online recently.
It increased its overall sales by nine per cent in the second half of last year, with operating profits holding more or less steady despite increasing raw material costs and the effects of pulling out of operating in Russia after the invasion of Ukraine. H&M this week joined other fashion retailers in imposing a charge for online purchases returned for a refund.
Company founder Erling Persson opened his first store, Hennes, in Sweden, in 1947. In 1968 the company acquired Stockholm-based Mauritz Widforss and changed its name to Hennes & Mauritz. It now operates in 79 countries and employs 150,000 people across the world.
Details of the StormMove 3-layer Shell Jacket are on the H&M website.
