Magnus Olsson was appointed Country Manager at H&M of Greater China (Mainland, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau) this year and has been in Asia for two-and-a-half years. Prior Asia, he worked in various positions and countries within H&M and has been at the Stockholm-based company for more than 20 years. ISBN spoke with him on the eve of H&M's launch of its largest global flagship store [October 29] in Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay and the brand’s current designer collaboration #HMBalmaination with Balmain's Olivier Rousteing [November 5].

What’s your definition of success for the new four-floor Causeway Bay store?

When I see the customers lining up, and hear the excitement coming, and yesterday I passed by a friend of my wife, saying ‘see you on Thursday’, that to me is amazing. Because then we fulfil a need, a satisfaction. If people can, in general, dress a personality regardless of their economic situation, I think we have succeeded.

The billboards outside the store during construction are white and gold. Not an obvious H&M choice.

Is it good or bad?

Good. But when I first saw it, I didn’t think H&M. I was looking for some red.

But the feeling is that it should be something exclusive and gold has that quality.

Will there be a celebrity performance at the event?

We have the Canto-pop singer and actress Sammi Cheng. She’s singing for the first time in-store, and it’s the first in-store performance for H&M. So it’s a first for both of us.

You’ve been in Asia for two-and-a half years. What surprised you most about this market?

The speed of development and the dynamism. It’s a very creative environment with a lot of energy.

Why has it taken so long to open another store on Hong Kong island?

We only came to Asia in 2007, now we have 285 stores in the region. We have worked pretty hard. This year we have also opened up Taiwan as a market and we have opened up Macau as a market. There is a limited amount of large space. We wanted to make sure we had the best location. It also had to be a store that creates this extra shopping experience, an amazing shopping experience. There are a lot of criteria to be fulfilled. It’s not that easy.

The limited amount of supply of great retail space made that process slower. When we open in shopping centres we can see the number of people coming to the centre increases.

How many stores are there in China?

We are in an expansion period. I would say right now we have 205-ish. If you take Greater China the customers appreciate that we’re a global fashion brand and after that comes credibility, and aspiration of what the consumer wants. That’s interesting to me and gives us great confidence in the future of China.

Does Chinese President Xi Jinping shop at H&M?

No. Not that I’ve seen.

And his glamorous wife Peng Liyuan? She’s also something of a celebrity?

You have some very good ideas [laughter]. But we do have a lot of Chinese ambassadors that like H&M and help to promote the brand.

Balmain. Congratulations, it’s a great, young, buzzy campaign.

Thank you. The good thing is that it ticks all the right boxes of collaboration to show that price and design is not necessarily a contradiction. We want to surprise our customers and I think this collaboration was a surprise as well.

Has it got harder to surprise?

More and more companies are doing designer collaboration, but without sounding too partial, I think we are the best one doing it. But I don’t think that anyone else is doing it in the way we do it with the quality of designers. It’s really there. The best of the best.

Can we expect Marc Jacobs soon?

Would that be a surprise though?

Five years ago, yes. Now I’m not so sure.

Obviously I cannot comment. But you’re not the only one that has mentioned Marc Jacobs.

Maybe H&M could start again, revisit the greatest hits. Like Karl Lagerfeld 2.0?

That could be a really interesting surprise, I agree. Karl Lagerfeld was one of my favourites of course. He was the first one as well. A very exciting collection.

You lived in London for eight years. What did you like about it?

There is so much I like about it. You have the history, you have the multicultural aspects all living together, and I love the British humour and the football as well.

COS is based in London. Do you oversee that brand too in Asia?

We work in collaboration with COS locally. It’s a great success, a great brand. Absolutely we’re looking into more COS stores as well, but as with H&M, it’s important that it’s the right location, and the right business terms. COS has a very tight expression, its a very style-sensitive brand. It can also compare to much higher priced labels.

Does anyone ask you what COS stands for?

No. Strangely enough I never get asked that question. It’s just accepted as it is. Of COS.

Tell us about And Other Stories. Where do you place that in the H&M/COS hierarchy?

It’s a fairly new brand. Obviously we would like to bring that to Asia as well. We are looking into it, but we’ll wait until we’re ready. It complements COS/H&M. It’s a very style and fashion conscious concept with a great identity as well. Other Stories do only ladies clothes though. It has a big proportion of accessories. It’s high fashion, style, quality and price.

Where would you recommend people to go in Stockholm?

It depends upon the preference. The archipelago is magnificent, but that’s obvious. I enjoy Liljevalchs, an art gallery [one hundred years old in 2016]. And then the Mood galleria for shopping; the great thing about Mood is that there are lots of H&M stores around it. You would have four opportunities to shop H&M. That’s quite important. There’s a museum called Fotografiska for contemporary photography that is great as well [showing Martin Schoeller Up Close until February 2016]. I’d recommend food shopping at Östermalms Hallen, which is more like an old-style market place, with good quality food in a beautiful setting. There’s a place called Sofo / Nytorget with a lot of shops, though not so many H&M stores. For restaurants, I think Riche is good for both lunch and dinner. A classical restaurant called Prinsen is very good. Then there’s Café Opera. What else? There’s also a place called Kött & Fiskbaren. And I also have on my list Rosendal’s Garden Café which is very romantic and beautiful.

Twenty years at H&M. You and the company must be doing things right. How do you maintain the work/life balance?

H&M is a company where we appreciate work/life balance from the perspective of trying to keep things simple and not overdoing things. We do not promote anyone just because of long hours. Another point, because of our female workforce we are used to having workers on maternity leave, which in fact, isn’t a problem but becomes more like an opportunity, which we all appreciate. I try to be efficient, plan ahead and spend as much time as I can on both. Get a job you enjoy, and the work/life balance takes care of itself.

What’s your favourite Ingmar Bergman film?

Fanny & Alexander. In fact, that’s the only Bergman film I like. While I recognise him as a director, his are not the kind of movies I spend a lot of time with.

So what is your desert island film?

Dead Poet’s Society.

Apple or Samsung?

Apple. But I also like Sony Ericsson.

Art. Do you like and collect art?

I don’t actively collect. I like interior design more than art. But I like the work of John Constable. He’s not modern, but his technique is admirable.