Designing Women

(NEW YORK) H&M has made a significant design change.

The Swedish retailer of cheap-chic has replaced Margareta van den Bosch with Ann-Sofie Johansson as head of design. Van den Bosch, 65, will enter into semi-retirement, remaining at the company as a creative advisor and continuing to work on the brand's successful designer collaborations, which in the past have included Karl Lagerfeld, Stella McCartney, Viktor & Rolf, and Madonna. H&M's most recent partnership with Roberto Cavalli was a near-instant sellout when it debuted in November.

The last H&M collections developed under van den Bosch will roll out to stores this fall.

Johansson's new position is, in fact, a promotion. The 44-year-old, who started her new role this week and will continue to be based in Stockholm, was hired by van den Bosch in 1990 as a design assistant for H&M's young women's Divided collection following a three-year stint as a sales clerk at an H&M store. In 1994, she was named designer for the Divided Black collection, assuming her most recent position as a women's designer in 2005.

Van den Bosch has been with H&M for nearly 30 years, 20 of which she served as chief designer of men's and women's design. Manning a team of 100 designers and pattern makers, she is widely credited for revolutionizing the era of fast fashion, where deliveries are made to stores on a weekly basis.