We walked by H&M on 125th Street and noticed that the usual black mannequins in the windows sported a few afrocentric hair styles. This is the first and only store for H&M uptown and the European company has acknowledged Harlem's African American community in a way that seems to have been missed by many of the local retailers that cater to what is typically labeled as the Urban Market. Whether this is trying a bit too hard is not the point since H&M has enough of a mass market appeal that they can do whatever they choose to. Since the fashion industry has been criticized many times for not being inclusive with black models, it is sort of a big deal that the Swedish retailer has taken this direction exclusively for the Harlem store.
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