Wrap Stars: H&M’s Reusable Gift Boxes

Why don’t more stores follow the H&M lead and minimize their logo on good looking gift packaging so shoppers can reuse it year after year?

FREE & FABULOUS | Too bad other big brands and major retailers don’t adopt Swedish fashion megabrand H&M’s approach to gift-wrapping, because if enough of them were to do it, gift givers would be able to wean themselves off wasteful wrapping paper in no time flat.

Every holiday season H&M produces a genuinely attractive, reusable and absolutely free alternative to wrapping paper. Its easy-to-collapse-flat gift boxes; “pillow boxes” with handles; and sticky-flap paper merchandise bags (available in multiple sizes) come in patterns so exciting you’d never think about covering them up.

The H&M boxes pictured here are ones I got three years ago, and I plan to put them into play again this Christmas with reusable wire ribbon from Costco (50 yards for $7.69).

This year, H&M has a selection of white, silver and gold foldable boxes with spots meant to convey snowflakes, brightly coloured splatter-paint bags and joyful animal-themed pillow boxes for kids (or adults!). All are free (with any purchase) and fabulous.

One huge thing that makes H&M’s holiday packaging so attractive—and one of the great reasons you can use it without wrap—is that the company logo is all but invisible. It’s there, for sure, but tucked inconspicuously out of the way so the beauty of the box is all you really see.

If you know of another company that provides beautiful, collapsible, logo-diminished, free gift packaging the way H&M does, please let us know about it. We would love to share that info with the rest of our readers. Happy Holidays. —C. Rule

See what’s new at H&M. Visit www.hm.com/ca/

Photo: Paul Joseph